Nikos Tachiaos, Deputy Minister of Infrastructure, provided many assurances that Egnatia Road is absolutely safe at noon on Sunday, from the Epirus Region building.
In his planned visit to Ioannina, for the second time in a few days, in order to put out the “fire” that the Epirus Regional Governor lit ten days ago, when he spoke at the meeting of the Epirus Region’s Regional Committee about an incompletely maintained tunnel at the height of Metsovos, the so-called Malakasi 1, Mr. Tachiaos was accompanied by Mr. Konstantinos Koutsoukos, managing director of “Egnatia Odos SA” and by the company’s president George Konstantopoulos.
With fine points about the role of Al’s statements. Confused by this great disturbance, Mr. Tachiaos, during a press conference, tried to convince the public that there is no problem with the specific old technical work of the Egnatia Road, which he also referred to as the Katara tunnel, acknowledging, however, that the distrust of the public is justified, one year after the fatal accident in Tempe… “To talk about traffic safety 1 year after February 2023, for the Minister to come out and say it is safe to cross the road, is not convincing by itself” he commented specifically.
Next to the Regional Governor of Epirus, Mr. Tachiaos, wanting to justify the noise, argued that Mr. Kahrimanis knew that the specific tunnel, built in the 80s, with the specifications of the time, was very old, “but there was an exaggeration in the presentation of the problem”… he noted with relative leniency about Kahrimanis’ statements to the Regional Committee…
Incorrect image
The incorrect image created in the world after the statements of the Epirus Regional Governor, according to the Minister, created a problem that had to be settled immediately.
After discussions with the District Governor on the northern branch of Egnatia towards Igoumenitsa, in the tunnel with the code Malakasi A, additional autopsies were carried out. Mr. Tachiaos even said that a few days earlier an autopsy had been performed by the contracting company TERNA and it showed that there were indeed some problems, but not as presented by the Epirus Regional Governor. He specifically mentioned that the water that gathered at the spot due to the snow removal was not draining well. These conclusions, however, he emphasized, “were far from saying that the tunnel is falling”… The absolute wording that he repeated several times was that the tunnel has no problems, there are only some point problems in the technical work that will be repaired in the next few days.
What was decided after the re-inspection of the tunnel, was to prohibit traffic from the tunnel and was followed by the control by the experts of Egnatia Odos who are very distinguished offices, they did an autopsy and came to the same diagnosis as that made by the Ministry. Therefore, it was decided to close the road and remain closed for a few more days, until May 1st, for the contractor to carry out some operations.
“The work will be finished during Holy Week, it was important for us that the operation of Egnatia proceed smoothly as many school trips are being planned at this time, people are preparing for the Easter holidays so that they can move without insecurity” noted the Deputy Minister .
All the tunnels of Egnatia Road after the concession and even during the handover will be checked and a very heavy maintenance will follow by the contractor, and new owner of the road, as it appears from the concession contract.
Ahead of Easter, Mr. Tahiaos assured once again that it is completely safe to cross Egnatia Odos, as long as the drivers respect the traffic rules.
The concession is in progress
The part of the concession of Egnatia Road to the private sector is progressing, but it will require more time, as mentioned by Mr. Tachiaos.
Together with “Egnatia Odos SA” the Ministry is creating the delivery mechanism for the road that will result from discussions taking place now and the contract will be ratified by law in parliament, in a separate procedure. During the summer, by July, it is estimated that the process will be completed and by the end of the year the issue of the concession will be closed. It will take some time for the handover, however, during this time, Mr. Tachiaos emphasized so that there are no doubts, it is clear that Egnatia Road has a maintenance contractor who covers the maintenance of the road at a high price, until the works are finally handed over to the concessionaire. The supervision of Egnatia Road will then pass to the competent department of the Ministry of Infrastructure.
Asked to comment on the entire handling of the story of the closure of the tunnel, Mr. Tachiaos completely covered the company “Egnatia Odos SA” stressing that the state company is under his supervision and there was an agreement from the first moment. “Egnatia Odos SA” did not make any announcement during this period, to ensure that everything said will be absolutely accurate.
Finally, in the news of the day, there is the possibility that the hub will move to Drisco, see another topic here, from the Egnatia concessionaire.
