By T. Igoumenidi
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The latest "banana peel" thrown by a Greek state agency in front of a landmark privatization project came on Friday after a relevant forestry service designated a portion of the land at the disused and concrete-laden Athens airport as "forestland".
The Helleniko privatization is included among the "prior actions" in bailout memorandums signed with institutional creditors and as a "barometer" in the current leftist-rightist coalition government's volition to facilitate growth-generating investments. The tract of land would ostensibly comprise one of the biggest and most expensive property development projects in Europe.
Specifically, the administrative decision designates roughly 3.6 hectares of land within the 620.5-hectare expanse as entailing "forest characteristics". The decision was signed by the forestry service director or Piraeus, which has jurisdiction over site in coastal southeastern Athens.
The Helleniko site is currently blemished by a variety of disused buildings and facilities, including runways and tarmacs, that once comprised the old Athens airport. One of two terminals, in fact, is used to host to Mideast war refugees and other third country nationals and would-be migrants to Europe. It served as the country's main commercial airport for decades, while a military airbase operated adjacent to the Helleniko airport. Several outdoor facilities were built from scratch for the 2004 Olympic Games, including a baseball diamond and a water slalom course.
Bushes and contemporary landscaping were the only greenspaces that were visible amid the surrounding arid hills and fields over previous years. A most recent attempt to assign characteristics of "modern architectural monuments" to a handful of dilapidated buildings at the site fizzled out last week, whereas the relevant archaeological service is now called upon to decide if archaeological sites exist under the runways and other disused buildings.
The decision is expected to delay the beginning of multi-billion-euro project even more, given that the master plan tabled by the consortium that won the concession via an international tender reportedly hadn't calculated on an unseen forest being located at the site.
The consortium, led by Athens-based Lamda Development, is expected to file an appeal against the decision within 60 days.
In justifying the decision, the Piraeus forestry director pointed to the "1937-39 period", where he refers to a "major portion (of the total site) as being low-land grassland, while sparse vegetation and sparse scattered trees and tree lines are visible..."
