In one month the renovation of Faliriko Bay is completed

By Eleni Botas

Within about a month, one of the most painful projects is expected to be completed, that of the first renovation of Faliriko Bay.

Now what remains to be given is a hydraulic part of the project related to some stagnant water in Kifissos.

The contract with the contractor, the Aktor Construction Group, was signed in May 2017 and had an initial budget of 73 million euros, while according to the initial plan, it should be completed within two years (horizon of completion 21 months).

However, a series of problems such as the “lack of sufficient studies in the initial design and unsecured funding”, the “pandemic and the previous financial problems of the contractor before the placement of the new management of the Group, led to a total of 6 extensions.

According to the Attica Region, the reasons why the project was so late in being delivered were that it was not well planned from the beginning.

“Significant studies were lacking, and the initial budget proved to be underestimated by several tens of millions of euros. As a result, the project could neither proceed nor meet the timetables originally set out in the contract,” it said.

It is worth noting here that in addition to the main contract of 73 million Euros, three additional contracts of 6.3 million Euros were signed, 22.5 million Euros and 7.6 million Euros the third.

Another major problem that arose was that there was no secured funding for the entire project when it started.

In the meantime, two more important factors emerged: the pandemic that caused obstacles to the smooth implementation of the project and the financial problems that Aktoras faced before the change of administration.

It is indicative that in most of the construction sites of the Construction Group the works were frozen and it took a long time for the machines to start again and the works to start.

Also, one of the problems of the project was that the body for the management, maintenance and safe operation of the green spaces disappeared after the completion of the works. This was one of the important reasons that the financing of the project stumbled, as something similar happened with the Olympic properties after the completion of the Athens Olympic Games, most of which are in ruins.

Regarding the second phase of completion of the renovation of Faliriko Bay with a budget of 200 million euros, as recently stated by the governor George Patoulis, “we have already secured the necessary funding, the studies are ready. The only thing we expect is the HRDH to deliver the studies for the first part of the renovation of the Athenian Riviera in order to be integrated in the project that will be auctioned “, said in a recent statement the governor George Patoulis.

However, the only thing that has been assigned to the HRDH is the maturation of the project of regeneration of the coastal front of Athens that will be financed by the Recovery Fund.

Therefore, no one knows for sure when the works of the second phase will start, with many placing such a development at the end of the year.

The projects of the second phase concern the creation of a huge Park that will ensure unhindered access to the coastal front of the area and its environmental upgrade, the construction of a parking lot of 900 spaces, the construction of linear buildings with a total area of ​​3,500 square meters for commercial, catering and recreational uses. .