Contents
Around Town
Public Works Update
Rethymnon has received nearly half a million euros from the Ministry of Economic Development and Competitiveness (?!) as a down payment towards three ongoing public works projects. These are: The re-paving of the streets in the Old Town, the redevelopment of Metropolis square (project stalled due to failing to pay the contractor! The municipality are now hopeful that the work will restart) and improvement of the drainage network in the Mastabas and Kalithea.
The Ministry of Health has approved the funding for the completion of the new wing of the Rethymnon Hospital 1.5 million euros. This should pay for the amount still owed to this particular contractor (!) and for the remaining work that needs to be done in order for the new wing to become operational. This time it is estimated that the work will take another four months, so the completion is scheduled for the end of the year. We’ll get back to you with a progress report in December!
The Cretan Regional Authority has requested some changes to the plans for the redevelopment of the Old National road, west of the city centre. After corrections have been made the proposal will go back to the table once more to try and get approval. Finance for this project (an estimated 2.8 million euros) will come directly from Europe (or at least we hope so!). Contracts have now been signed for the planned project to redevelop Gerakari and Dimakopoulou streets. These are currently an absolute nightmare for pedestrians due to illegally parked cars and tables/merchandise outside shops. After the redevelopment it should be a pleasure to walk along these roads. At the same time DEH have agreed put their cables underground, so no more electricity poles. Funding for this project (1.8 million euros) is also going to come from Europe, but there are stringent completion deadlines. So work will have to start very soon….
Seasonal Sport
The reason why there was no news on the football front last month has now become clear! There were frantic negotiations going on about the merger of the two teams that were to be competing in the Δ division, Cretan region: Rethymniakos and Asteras Rethymnon. The economic reality is such that it is not possible for Rethymnon to have two teams competing at this level. The people in charge of both teams have finally faced up to this fact, and after long and challenging discussions (!) a new football team was born: PER (Podosfairiki Enosi Rethymnou - Ποδοσφαιρική Ένωση Ρεθύμνου). A similar merger has taken place in Ierapetra. This means that the Δ division will not have 16 teams this season but may be reduced to only 13, as the team of Spatha has withdrawn from the competition due to financial problems.
Basketball: Although prospective new coach Stergios Koufos (see last month) has not actually signed on the dotted line just yet, according to the latest press releases this is about to happen. One of the issues that seems to be taking time to settle is the budget for the team (surprise, surprise). As with every sport, finding the sponsors to be able to keep a team afloat is not an easy task under the current circumstances. Running a team at this level is a costly affair, but is also the basis for future development. Let’s hope they get their differences sorted soon though, otherwise it will be getting very late to attract some decent players. There are also some changes in the women’s basketball team. They are back in the A2 division for the new season, with a new coach as well. The coach will have a busy time dealing with the transfer market as a lot of last season’s players have moved away from Crete to study abroad!
What’s that Whiff? Ah, it’s Gone….
Koubes is the area of Rethymnon along the main road going out of town towards Hania. Its unfortunate residents have been living with a ‘bit of a stench for years’, as it has been the holding area for the rubbish collection from the Old Town. Because of the narrow streets, rubbish in the Old Town is collected by dinky little trucks. When the dinky little trucks are all filled up they take their load to a container park in Koubes. When the containers are full they get taken to the landfill. As one can imagine, this is not an ideal situation for a residential area, especially in the summer. A decision has now been made to shift the holding area. In stage one (to take place with almost immediate effect), the holding area will be moved further west where it will have less of an environmental impact, and in stage two (by the end of the year?) it will be moved to the Tria Monastiria area, where they are already collecting the contents of all the blue recycling bins. The people of Koubes will once again be able to take a deep breath.
