Hotel Chamber Lists Proposals For Athens Revamp

The Hellenic Chamber of Hotels recently made a list of proposals aimed for the regeneration of the historic center of Athens after Government Vice President Theodoros Pagalos submitted the relevant topic on Greek Open Government Initiative opengov for public consultation.

In an announcement, the Hellenic Chamber of Hotels said the center of Athens was in need of protecting and promoting itself with a balanced distribution of central functions and control over land use.

Among the chamber’s proposals was an integrated network of walkways for the unification of the city’s key monuments and sites.

The hotel chamber emphasized on some of Athens’ key problems and underlined the need for extra lighting in the streets, frequent trash collection and abolishment of illegal trade. On the latter the chamber proposed intensified checks on the basis of new legislation that would provide on-site destruction of black market goods.

In regards to crime, the chamber proposed a zero tolerance policy by the Greek police and mentioned the necessity for the removal of all OKANA (Greek Organization Against Drugs) services from the center.

The chamber also proposed converting the historical buildings of the Polytechnic University into a museum complex and noted that the problem of drug addicts constantly gathering on Tositsa Street, near the National Archaeological Museum, must be tackled.

Prime Minister George Papandreou chaired a Cabinet meeting in May and had announced a series of measures aimed to the revamp of the Greek capital’s historic center. Government Vice President Theodoros Pagalos is supervising the measures.