December 12, 1953
KARAMANLIS-PUBLIC WORKS: During yesterday’s session of Parliament the public works minister, Mr Constantine Karamanlis, who, in order to redress any misunderstanding, stated that M. Tamvakas’s report of public works being undertaken in Athens at the expense of the provinces was incorrect. He emphasized that out of total credits of 394 billion drachmas which had been made available by his ministry, only 3 billion had been set aside for Athens, and specifically in order to ease traffic on the Iera Odos for traffic moving in and out of Athens. If one compared the population ratios, Athens should in fact be receiving 60 billion. However, the principle has been established by which Athenians will pay for projects undertaken for Athens. No public works have been carried out in Athens since 1925. (…) The prejudice against Athens, he said, was unjustified since Athens is also inhabited by Greeks, it is the national capital and is of great tourist interest. Karamanlis is personally of the opinion that tourism policy should begin with the refurbishment of the capital.
