It is not only Mykonos, the paradise of the free-spirited. The Island of the Winds is but a drop in the ocean of arbitrariness in Crete, the Cyclades, the Dodecanese and the islands of the rest of the Aegean, where illegal buildings are constantly being built where the wave once broke.
Hotel facilities, beach bars, entertainment centers, restaurants, “palaces” and slums are built, legalized, or not legalized, with the help of the slow-moving mechanism of inspections and demolitions. It is no coincidence that demolition protocols “spider” in the competent services of the Decentralized Administrations of the country, where they remain in the drawers for even… 30 years without being executed.
Why did the bulldozers stop in Crete?
In Crete, the Decentralized Administration started again in the spring of 2022 the demolition of arbitrary buildings, after a two-year suspension of demolitions imposed by a series of ministerial decisions during the first years of the pandemic. And while everything was going well, in mid-January, when the bulldozer arrived in Elounda, the demolitions “froze”, as the owners of the unauthorized properties appealed to the courts, as a result of which the scheduled demolitions were suspended for after the summer.
In Ierapetra again, the squatters may not have had a court order in their hands, however when the demolition crews approached the area the site had not been evacuated by the Police, while the squatters’ owners were asking for more time to remove the illegal constructions themselves. many of which had demolition protocols pending for more than a decade, finally managing to get an informal extension until mid-autumn so they wouldn’t be affected during the tourist season.
Ierapetra: 52 protocols are pending
Thus, the Decentralized Administration of Crete remains with… its hands tied, with the contract of 1 million euros for 350 demolitions of arbitrary buildings on the coast and on the beach of the island temporarily frozen. “Times are running out. The contract has a margin of one year and must be completed by January 2025. We did not expect this development in Lasithi and Ierapetra” characteristically says to “Vima” a senior official of the public service, pointing out that 52 demolition protocols are pending in Ierapetra.
However, in the previous two years the Decentralized Administration of Crete completed dozens of arbitrary demolitions on the coastal fronts of the island, such as at the mouth of the Karteros river in Heraklion, where 73 demolition protocols had to be executed, which concerned not only light constructions such as pergolas or paddocks, but also buildings . “The police then took care of cordoning off the area on the first day, the contractor came in, started and continued without a problem in the following days” reports the executive of the Decentralized Administration of Crete.
Apart from Karteros, since the middle of 2022, 20 have been arbitrarily demolished on the island of Chrysi, one in Gournes, one in Alykes, 18 on the beach of Sisi Lasithiou and two in the archaeological site of Boufos Sisios. In mid-March notices were also sent to squatters in the Municipality of Hersonissos, giving them a deadline that expires these days, to remove their illegal constructions themselves, before the bulldozers go. In the first phase, the notices concern 12 demolition protocols and another 10 will follow. Also, another 20 corresponding warning letters have been sent for arbitrariness in a coastal area in the South of the Municipality of Phaistos.
Cyclades and Dodecanese
In Mykonos, last week, four joint inspection teams, led by Environmental inspectors, began inspections of the island to see if the violators identified last year complied, but also to check for new planning and other illegalities.
More generally, in the South Aegean, and specifically in the Cyclades, the total number of demolition protocols, according to the Decentralized Administration of the Aegean, is about 890, while together with the North Aegean the number reaches close to 1,300. Most recorded arbitrarily, according to the secretary of the Aegean Decentralized Administration, Mrs Marianna Nikolaidouare located in Rhodes. “In order to carry out contracts, credits will have to be found, which requires the recording, measurement and grouping of all the arbitrary and then tender announcements, with all that this implies in terms of time. At the moment we are in the process of implementing a demolition project in Rhodes, with a budget of almost 1 million euros, which is based on a tender that took place in 2021, but due to appeals and procedural actions of the parties involved, it started this year” she says herself.
According to Mrs. Nicolaidou, 10 illegals have already been removed, starting from sensitive, forested areas, and within April, a notice will be published for the project to demolish the buildings of an abandoned hotel complex that extends over an area of 9.5 acres in Naxos, with a budget of 960,000 euros.
“At the same time, we are preparing a proposal to the Green Fund for the financing of other projects, which mainly concern the seafront, but also arbitrary urban planning, both in the Dodecanese and in the Cyclades” emphasizes the secretary. And he concludes: “We have encouraged the more effective cooperation of the prosecution authorities and the Police, as was done last year on the island of Mykonos, a necessary condition for the easier and faster implementation of our planning for the demolition of arbitrary buildings”.
Strong reactions to buildings in Rhodes
In any case, efforts by the Decentralized Administration of the Aegean to demolish arbitrary buildings ten days ago in a forested area of Rhodes were suspended after strong reactions. In total, 219 final demolition protocols must be executed on the island, of which 135 are coastal, 54 are forested and 30 urban.
In any case, the specific contracts of the Decentralized Administrations usually have a duration of one year (in some cases they may be extended), with the consequence that if the project is not completed, the money is returned and the process starts from the beginning. In other words, the Decentralized Administration requests funding again, waits for approval from the General Accounting Office, starts the tender process and in case there are no objections among the interested parties, the contractor can start the demolitions.
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