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Με μανιάτικη συμμετοχή η εκδήλωση στην Πάργα στο μνημείο Κυριακούλη Μαυρομιχάλη

ΑΠΟ ΜΗΝΑ ΣΕ ΜΗΝΑ, εφημερίδα, Εφημερίδα

 

Αντιπροσωπεία του Δήμου Ανατολικής Μάνης, με επικεφαλής τη δημοτική σύμβουλο κα Ελένη Δρακουλάκου, συμμετείχε και φέτος στις εκδηλώσεις που διοργάνωσε ο Δήμος Πάργας προς τιμήν του οπλαρχηγού Κυριακούλη – Πιέρρου Μαυρομιχάλη, αποδίδοντας τον ελάχιστο φόρο τιμής στον Ήρωα Μανιάτη Πολεμιστή.

Ο Κυριακούλης Μαυρομιχάλης προσέφερε τα μέγιστα στον απελευθερωτικό αγώνα ενάντια στην Οθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, συμμετέχοντας στις επαναστατικές εκστρατείες σε Αττική, Εύβοια και Ήπειρο. Σκοτώθηκε στις 4 Ιουλίου του 1822 στη Σπλάντζα Φαναρίου, παραλία κοντά στην Πάργα και το Σούλι, στην προσπάθειά του να βοηθήσει τους αποκλεισμένους Σουλιώτες ως επικεφαλής δικού του στρατιωτικού σώματος 500 Μανιατών αντιμετωπίζοντας 3.000 Τουρκαλβανούς.

Ο Δήμος Πάργας στο λόφο της Αγίας Ελένης, στη Σπλάντζα, εκεί όπου ο Ήρωας Μανιάτης έδωσε τη ζωή του για τον απελευθερωτικό αγώνα, ανήγειρε Μνημείο Θυσίας προς τιμήν του. Με αισθήματα βαθειάς συγκίνησης τελέστηκε για πρώτη φορά στο Μνημείο επιμνημόσυνη δέηση το Σάββατο 6 Οκτωβρίου.

ASSESSMENT AND EVALUATION OF THE LOCAL GOVERNMENTS BEFORE THE MAY ELECTIONS

2018 MAIN ARTICLES IN ENGLISH, ΑΠΟ ΤΟ ΦΥΛΛΟ ΠΟΥ ΚΥΚΛΟΦΟΡΕΙ, Εφημερίδα

In democracies, leaders are elected for a single term. The current term of office for area and regional government politicians ends in May 2016. During the next six months, the electorate can take stock of what the local politicians have achieved during their term of office and evaluate their performance. The electorate can review and assess whether these politicians successfully promoted and completed programs addressing the needs of their municipality or region. The review of the implemented programs should be the main criterion of whether or not the electorate will allow them to stay in office for another term. This is what is required in democratic governments and this is how citizens in democratic states evaluate their politicians. After careful evaluation, citizens should choose the right candidates. Those candidates who do not yet have experience in local governance should be judged by their commitment to democratic ideals, their conscientiousness and most of all, their diligence and efficacity during the previous stages of their life.

   Citizens need  to be lenient when evaluating the current politicians of small municipalities, because the financial crisis has resulted in major cuts in funding. It would be more fair to judge them principally on whether they were efficient in repairing the existing infrastucture, and on whether they successfully sought out development projects for their jurisdiction from the superior levels of government (Administrative Districts, Ministries, European institutions). They should also be judged on whether they contributed to the overall enhancement of the quality of life in their region and on whether citizens obtained appropriate service from the municipal public services.

Although the financial crisis also negatively affected the subsidies given to Administrative Districts (περιφέρειες), these politicians should not be judged with the same leniency, as the ones of the previous paragraph. Administrative District politicians have the power to manage themselves the funds of the regional programs, which are co-subsidised by the EU. This means that they can decide themselves which public works will be receiving the allotted regional funds, which are separate for each Administrative District. Since 2010, when the Administrative Districts absorbed several prefeture agencies, Administrative District politicians not only have the power to determine for themselves the feasibility of various financial/technical studies, but also to implement, carry out and supervise the corresponding projects themselves. The electorate should assess and evaluate the work of each Head of an Administrative District (περιφερειάρχης) and his/her task force, based on whether the drafting, contracting, implementing and completion of various projects were satisfactory and cost-efficient. This holds particularly true for the public investment projects necessary for the economic development of each region, since businessmen and investors need the necessary technical infrastructure before they can successfully invest in private projects.

Effective management of engineering or public works means:

  1. a) fair distribution of public works between the perfectures (περιφερειακές ενότητες or νομοί, as they were previously called) of each Administrative District and then fair distribution between the smaller municipalities, based on criteria such as geographical size, population, inhabited area and growth rate
  2. b) thorough financial and technical studies addressing real needs, invoices corresponding to the fair value of the engineering works, transparent conditions of bidding, contracting, carrying out and completing the work
  3. c) strict supervision and detailed evaluation of the finished work, without recapitulative statements and without setting out new prices for “extras”, additional works that were not foreseen in the initial contract
  4. d) detailed strict conditions for guaranteeing the good quality of the engineering of intended public works, with work thoroughly and regularly inspected during construction, but also thorough check after completion.

 

Unfortunately, the average citizen does not have access to the data regarding the total infrastructure projects that each Administrative District has proposed or completed. However, citizens instinctively have a fairly good idea of the work that has been put out by each district. They know if their needs will be met by the works that are under way, and they can roughly assess the quality and quantity of the proposed public works. This “instinctive” assessment and evaluation by the average citizen can become more accurate, if the electorate compares the pre-election promises with the work produced by each Administrative District during the current term, even in the absence of specific measurements. Those citizens who are tech savvy can check on the internet the site Διαύγεια (Transparency) of each Administrative District. To improve awareness among our readership, in the next few issues of our newspaper “MANIOT SOLIDARITY” we will be presenting data referring to pre-election promises and the uncomfortable reality regarding the progress of the undertaken public works in our area, Mani.

Σε εξέλιξη η πρόταση για επέκταση παραδοσιακών καλντεριμιών στη Βέργα

ΑΠΟ ΜΗΝΑ ΣΕ ΜΗΝΑ, εφημερίδα, Εφημερίδα

Με εισήγηση του Υπουργείου Πολιτισμού στο Κεντρικό Συμβούλιο Νεωτέρων Μνημείων ζητείται η επέκταση χαρακτηρισμού των παραδοσιακών καλντεριμιών της Βέργας (Σέλιτσα) έως την Άνω Βέργα και τον Άγιο Γεώργιο στο όρος Καλάθι, ως μνημείων της πολιτιστικής κληρονομιάς.

Η πρόταση, για το χαρακτηρισμό του καλντεριμιού που συνέδεε τους οικισμούς της Κάτω Βέργας, της Άνω Βέργας και τον Άγιο Γεώργιο στο όρος Καλάθι, τεκμηριώνεται από τον ιδιαίτερα παραδοσιακής τεχνικής χαρακτήρα του έργου, από τη στενή σύνδεσή του με τις μνήμες της ζωής των κατοίκων της περιοχής κατά τις προηγούμενες περιόδους, καθώς και τη συμβολή του στην κοινωνική, οικονομική και πολιτισμική ανάπτυξης της περιοχής.

Για το θέμα αυτό το Δημοτικό Συμβούλιο Καλαμάτας, στη συνεδρίασή του στις 12 Απριλίου, γνωμοδότησε θετικά ως προς το χαρακτηρισμό ως μνημείου του παλαιού λιθόστρωτου μονοπατιού το οποίο συνδέει τους οικισμούς της Κάτω Βέργας, της Άνω Βέργας και τον Άγιο Γεώργιο της Δημοτικής Κοινότητας Βέργας του Δήμου Καλαμάτας,όπως εισηγήθηκε η Επιτροπή Ποιότητας Ζωής σύμφωνα με την πρόταση της Διεύθυνσης Τεχνικών Υπηρεσιών

PELOPONNESE DEVELOPMENT CONGRESS:  GLOOMY OUTLOOK FOR MANI

2018 MAIN ARTICLES IN ENGLISH, Εφημερίδα

The Development Congress of the Peloponnese Administrative Region took place in Tripoli in February 2018. It was the 10th of thirteen (13) congresses that are supposed to take place in the capital of each Greek administrative region. These congresses are organised by the Ministry of Development and Finance together with each region. According to the government, the goal of these congresses is the in-depth investigation of the production capacity of each region and  the drafting of a coherent implementation plan for economic reconstruction. This was supposed to happen through consultation during the work of the Congress, resulting in establishing a road map of procedures according to the priorities set out in the “National Development Strategy 2021” and the initiatives that have already been planned or developed, thus marking the transition from the economic crisis to the equitable development for the region.

The generalities of targets and goals, as described above, have probably been set vague on purpose, so that personal interests are promoted through unclear statements and development congresses. During the three days of the Congress in Tripoli, the vague speeches of the ministers and the pretentious public statements made at press conferences by central and local government politicians did not lead to any conclusions and were definitely not conducive to triggering a process of regional development. The speeches of the local politicians, shortened to fit the timelines of the Congress, did not contribute anything essential to the Congress, as they were supposed to do. There was also no provision for statements of case or pleadings to be submitted. Two months after the conclusion of the Congress and the ensuing discussions, recommendations and suggestions, there has been no progress.

   In order to achieve a proportionate and equitable development among all Greek administrative regions, the development budget needs to be divided equitably. Based on fixed data, such as the population, the area and the number of dwellings, which have been determined by the Hellenic Statistical Authority, stable allocation guidelines of the available resources could be established. Realistic projections of the central and the regional budget could be established and communicated to the relevant organisations and agencies, for further action. If this procedure were to be followed, allocation of funds would be a lot more efficient and political/personal gains would be reduced.

   Once more, our region was left by the wayside by the Peloponnese Region Development Congress. Mani’s needs, even after the considerable tourist development of the last decades, once more were not taken into account. As a matter of fact, not even one of the proposed projects or procedures addressed our area! It seems that being ignored by the state and by the regional public investment programs has become business as usual. A quick glance at the official data provided by the Hellenic Statistical Authority proves this injustice. If the allocation of the development funds were done in a fair way, i.e. taking into account the population, the area and  the number of dwellings, Mani (Eastern and Western) should receive 4,4% of the total regional public investment funds for the Peloponnese  (we arrived at the 4,4% percentage by taking into account the following data: a) total population of the Peloponnese 577.903 inhabitants and of Mani 19.950 inhabitants, b) total number of dwellings of the Peloponnese 411.462, and of Mani 22.692 and c) total area of the Peloponnese 21.550 km2 and of Mani 913,3 km2). It is obvious to anyone who has even a passing familiarity with Mani and its villages, that for many decades the investment funds allocated to our area do not even amount to 1/3 of the 4,4% that our area is entited to according to an equitable distribution of the development resources.

The recent Peloponnese Development Congress is tangible proof of the long-term negative attitude of politicians towards Mani. It is now left up to Maniots and philo-Maniots, who care about our area’s development, to carefully evaluate the above data and take action accordingly. We would like to stress once more, that injustices of this kind are not to be dealt by using with personal gain politics, but with common rallying and organisation of the considerable Mani human resources.