PM heralds three major infrastructure projects for southwest Peloponnese
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis heralded three major infrastructure projects being planned for the southwestern Peloponnese region of Messinia, which are expected to bolster the area’s profile as a tourist destination and improve residents’ lives.
Speaking during a visit to the area on Thursday, Mitsotakis said the biggest of the three projects is a 252-million-euro expansion of the road linking the regional capital of Kalamata to the picturesque seaside village of Methoni via Rizomylos and Pylos. The public-private partnership project has already been put to a tender and the concession agreement with the contractor is expected to be signed in the fall. The new road should be ready in five years’ time, the prime minister said.
Kalamata’s airport – named Captain Vassilis Constantakopoulos after the late founder of Costa Navarino, the luxury resort that put Messinia firmly on the international tourism map – will also be radically overhauled, Mitsotakis said.
“If you look at how successful the interventions at the other regional airports – the 14 managed right now by Fraport – have been, you can see what the upgrade of Kalamata’s airport will mean for the development of tourism in the broader vicinity,” he said at the town hall of Messini.
The prime minister added that an investment is also being planned in the part of the airport used by the Hellenic Air Force so that it can train pilots in newer aircraft.
The third project being planned for Messinia concerns much-needed improvements at the area’s main waste treatment plant. The upgrade will be carried out via the Public Investments Program and is expected to cost approximately 15 million euros.
