Monday 13 February 2012

Greek Government Plans to sell State Land on Corfu?

Bloomberg reports that the Greek Government plans to sell off some of its state-owned assets, in the form of  half a million square metres of land on Corfu, and more elsewhere (eg on Rhodes).

Where is all this public land? I'd be surprised if there was any left, with every single olive tree accounted for by individuals and families. There are derelict and abandoned municipal properties like Villa Rossa, or the former Old People's Home on top of the Hill of Avramiou in Corfu Town.

Difficult to comment on the plans without having more detail, but  an argument can certainly be made for selling off (or leasing for suitable development) ruined, redundant, often dangerous and largely unrestorable factories (such as the old olive oil factory with the tall chimney in Mandouki) or collapsing monasteries (I can think of quite a few on the mainland). The problem is, they belong to private interests or to the Church.

Time for some compulsory purchases?

No comments:

Post a Comment