Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis chaired a meeting at the town hall of Kastellorizo on Saturday, pledging that all of the island's long-standing infrastructure problems would be resolved within the next four years.
The meeting covered the island's port, broader infrastructure works, energy supply, housing and incentives to attract public servants to the remote Aegean outpost, which lies closer to the Turkish coast than to mainland Greece. At its centre is a plan of 37 projects with a combined budget of 27 million euros, covering the port, water supply, sewage treatment and housing for doctors and teachers.
"My commitment is clear: within the next four years, Mr Mayor and Mr Regional Governor, we must have closed all the open fronts that have plagued the island for many decades," Mitsotakis said after the meeting.
The meeting was attended by Parliament Speaker Nikitas Kaklamanis, South Aegean Regional Governor Giorgos Hatzimarkos, New Democracy Dodecanese MPs Emmanouil Konsolas and Vasilis-Nikolaos Ypsilantis, the Chief of the Hellenic National Defence General Staff, General Dimitris Choupis, and the Secretary of the New Democracy Political Committee, Konstantinos Kyranakis.
Dozens of infrastructure projects
Particular weight was given at the meeting to rebuilding the quay walls of Kastellorizo's port. Funding for the project has now been secured and it has been prioritised through the National Strategic Reference Framework, the European Union's regional funding mechanism known in Greece as ESPA.
Beyond the port, the wider plan for the island includes replacing critical sections of the water supply network, installing an integrated telemetry and monitoring system, and carrying out work on the sewage network and treatment plant.
The 37 projects, budgeted at 27 million euros, span six areas: the energy transition, sustainable resource management, environmental protection, entrepreneurship and innovation, digital transformation and strengthening human resources.
Housing for public servants
The meeting also addressed initiatives to house public employees serving, or who will serve, on the island. Twelve homes are currently under construction by the Ministry of National Defence, some of which will be allocated to health and education staff, while the Coast Guard has begun work on a further nine homes for its personnel. The Ministry of National Defence is also repairing four homes, funded by the Hellenic Parliament.
At the same time, the Ministry of Social Cohesion and Family is transferring 19 stremmata (about 4.7 acres) of land to the municipality, on which 30 old homes now deemed unfit for habitation will be replaced with new housing. Funding will come from the Ministry of Interior, with the project developed through Greece's state holding company, known as the Growthfund or Ypertameio.
Health care provisions
Before the town hall meeting, Mitsotakis visited the Multi-purpose Regional Clinic of Megisti, where he was briefed on the unit's capabilities and the emphasis placed on quality health services.
Alongside regular visits by a cardiologist and a paediatrician from the Rhodes Health Centre, the clinic is finalising the hiring of a director of general and family medicine and a director of internal medicine, whose posts carry a benefit funded by the Stelios Philanthropic Foundation. A notice for two nursing positions is also due to be published.
Visits to Ro and Strongyli islets
Mitsotakis also visited surveillance outposts and spoke with armed forces personnel and conscripts stationed there, accompanied by Parliament Speaker Kaklamanis, General Choupis and Regional Governor Hatzimarkos.
Earlier on Saturday morning, Mitsotakis visited the small islets of Ro and Strongyli together for the first time, saying the government stands by the island complex of Megisti so that it continues to prosper and attracts more permanent residents.
On Ro, he was briefed on a new pier and shown around the outpost's newly built central building, restaurant and kitchens, as well as recently constructed guesthouses for the armed forces.
Speaking after the Kastellorizo meeting, Mitsotakis thanked the mayor and his team for what he called a substantive discussion, and said he was glad to be on the island ahead of an important anniversary being marked the following day.
He said many projects were in the preparatory stage, citing the port restoration, a definitive resolution of the sewage treatment and water management issues, the need for quality housing for public officials who choose to settle on Kastellorizo, and environmental projects including zero-waste waste management and the integration of solar power to support the island's electricity supply.
He said the Speaker and the Hellenic Parliament would generously fund the restoration of certain spaces and homes so that, by next summer, doctors choosing to come to Kastellorizo could at least be housed in decent, quality conditions.
Recalling that Kastellorizo once had more than 10,000 permanent residents, Mitsotakis said the goal was clear: to attract more permanent population back to the island, and that the government would use every tool available to achieve it. He made the remark while looking at an old photograph of the island, which Mayor Nikolaos Asvestis told him dated from 1917, during the period of French rule.
Asvestis thanked the prime minister, the Speaker, Hatzimarkos and the local MPs, describing the talks as constructive and covering projects already under way. He said Mitsotakis would make a further announcement in the coming hours on the details discussed and on additional funding the island intends to pursue.
The prime minister laid a wreath at the monument to the Lady of Ro and visited her house, which has been turned into a museum.
Mitsotakis was also accompanied by New Democracy Dodecanese MPs Giannis Pappas, Emmanouil Konsolas, Mika Iatridi and Vasilis-Nikolaos Ypsilantis.
The prime minister additionally visited the Navy's fast guided-missile patrol boat "Ypoploiarchos Grigoropoulos," which is stationed at Kastellorizo.
