Main opposition PASOK party leader George Papandreou presented his party's programme for the reconstruction of wildfire-stricken regions in the Peloponnese and Evia, speaking in the city of Pyrgos, the capital of devastated Ilia prefecture, on Sunday afternoon.

"Now is the time of truth," Papandreou said, terming the period crucial for the country, and adding that national unanimity is necessary to deal with the situation.
He stressed that the plan has two pylons that are unbreakably connected to each other. The one is a plan of immediate relief, aid and the consolidation of a "right to life" for the wildfire-stricken and the other is a plan for the reconstruction and revival (social, productive, economic, ecological, town planning and housing) of the wildfire-stricken regions.

Papandreou spoke at this point of "half-measures on the part of the New Democracy government and of Mr. (Costas) Karamanlis personally" with the purpose of "pulling wool over the eyes of the wildfire-stricken" and which "have the sole aim of whitewashing the shame and the huge responsibilities of the Karamanlis government for its incompetence."

The PASOK leader said that "it is our desire to hold the population and provide a new prospect of development and prosperity for the region and our ambition is not merely to bring back the people and their places to the situation that they were in before the wildfires" and presented the plan's goal that is to make the Peloponnese "the craddle of a 'model' of ecodevelopment, of a new model of 'green' development with absolute respect for man, for nature, history and culture."

Papandreou said that what is also necessary is the reshaping of the National Strategic Reference Framework 2007-2013 and of the Agricultural Development Programme of the 4th Programming Period, as well as of the country's General Town Planning and Sustainable Development Framework.

He went on to say that the university can become the "centre for resolving conflicts and wars."

-The foundations of a major theme park that will focus on Greek mythology and philosophy.
-The foundations of knowledge, protecion and the promotion of crucial ecosystems and their unbreakable relation with man and his life.
-The foundations of an international Olympic Sports Centre model that will be a point of reference for events and the holding of games for athletes, young people and sports fans from all over the world.
-The Olympic Truce Centre.

Papandreou said that this pole will be tantamount to a city that will be able to bear the name of "New Olympia" and "live up to the dreams and expectations of all Greeks and, mainly, of the younger generations."

The PASOK leader also mentioned PASOK's policy position that "our growth prospect lies in the 'green economy'. With new organising and directions in the agricultural sector and a new agricultural land policy, with new policies for energy, transportation, industry, tourism."

Source: Athens News Agency

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