WRITTEN QUESTION E-0824/96 by Mihail Papayannakis (GUE/NGL) to the Commission (12 April 1996)

Subject: Construction of a sewage treatment plant on Samos

The construction of a sewage treatment plant in the commune of Pagondhas, Samos, was included in a joint Interior Ministry-North Aegean Region programme. The commune subsequently commissioned, and funded, a project study and an environmental impact assessment. It should be pointed out that the sewage treatment project will benefit the region in many ways; not only will sanitary conditions be improved, the tourist industry and the economy will also gain (it will be possible to develop a longer stretch of the Heraion coast).

The North Aegean Region recently decided to allocate the appropriations earmarked for sewage treatment to other projects, probably road-building, so that all that remains of this essential sewage treatment project is the expenditure on the studies. Bearing in mind that such a decision defies both common sense and all scientific analysis (developmental, economic, environmental), that pollution hits the tourist industry and numerous professions which depend directly on tourism and the sea, that money has already been spent on the studies and that the hopes of the region's population have been raised, can the Commission confirm that the above is actually true? If so, what objective criteria were used to reallocate the appropriations, and what will the Commission do to support and implement the first investment project, which is recognized as a major priority as far as the tourist industry and the environment is concerned and which is closely bound up with the health of the region's inhabitants?

Answer given by Mrs Bjerregaard on behalf of the Commission (24 May 1996)

The Commission is not aware of these projects which are apparently financed under the national budget. It is of course up to the Greek authorities to decide on the priority of the projects they finance in their regions.