Page 92 - ΝΑΥΤΙΚΑ ΧΡΟΝΙΚΑ - ΟΚΤΩΒΡΙΟΣ 2024

Initiatives of the maritime community for the benefit of Greek society
MARITIME

INDUSTRY

BENEVOLENCE

Edited by: Panagiotis Korakas

THE UGS COMES TO THE AID OF He added that the 1st Primary School which the
THESSALY IN ITS TIME OF NEED Union of Greek Shipowners included in the overall
On Monday, 7 October, a sanctification ceremony contract, will be completed by the end of the year
took place at the 1st and the 3rd Kindergarten of despite being damaged even before Storm Daniel
Palamas in Karditsa, which were both renovated hit the region.
with funding from the Union of Greek Shipown- Concluding his speech, Mr Staikouras added:
ers (UGS). The ceremony was attended by the “It is imperative to improve citizens’ daily lives.
Minister of Infrastructure and Transport Chris- Young couples want to settle in the countryside
tos Staikouras, the UGS President Melina Trav- as long as they have better school facilities for
los, the Minister of Rural Development and Food their children, which is something we are working
and Member of Parliament representing Karditsa on, better health services – and very recently, we
Kostas Tsiaras, the Regional Governor of Thessaly found ourselves at the Palamas Health Center,
Dimitris Kouretas, the Deputy Regional Governor which was repaired and upgraded after the devas-
of Karditsa Konstantinos Telios, the Mayor of Pala- tation caused by Storm Daniel - and quick access
mas Sokratis Daskalopoulos, His Eminence the to Athens, something we have accomplished with
Metropolitan Bishop of Thessaliotida and Fanar- the E65 Motorway.
iofersala Timotheos, the President of the Board The President of the Union of Greek Shipowners,
of Directors of Κtiriakes Ypodomes S.A. Timoleon Ms Melina Travlos, thanked all the participants for
Katsipos, the CEO of Κtiriakes Ypodomes S.A. their contribution to the timely realisation of the
Athanassios Giannaris, representatives of Kar- projects and emphasised that:
ditsa’s Directory of Primary Education, teachers, “From the first moment of the crisis, we drew up
parents, and a large number of citizens. an action plan to support Thessaly. The integrated
As the Minister of Infrastructure and Transport project, named symbolically in honour of “Agios
pointed out, “When the natural disasters hit Pala- Nikolaos” (St. Nicholas), embraces three fields
mas a year ago, the top priority of the Government of contribution: education, culture, and health.
and Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis was to We quite consciously started with the education
restore everyday life in local communities, starting sector, particularly by restoring the damages in all
with the schools, starting with our children”. 33 affected schools and upgrading them wherever
Mr Staikouras thanked the Union of Greek Ship- necessary.
owners for its donation of more than €30 mil- As Greek shipowners, both individually and col-
lion towards the reconstruction interventions in lectively, we have always centred our contribu-
33 schools in Thessaly and Fthiotida, Κtiriakes tion to the homeland on education and the new
Ypodomes S.A., and the contracting company for generation.
completing the works in the two kindergartens Having visited the affected areas, I have observed
two months earlier than the contract stipulated. all the stages of these schools’ rehabilitation and

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