The Minister of Interior Yannis Michelakis has accused the Mayor of Naousa Anastasios Karabatzos of political opportunism ahead of the upcoming municipal and local government elections. The Mayor had filed a complaint earlier in the week regarding the heating funding.
Furthermore, Mr. Michelakis has ordered the General Secretary of Decentralized Administration of Macedonia & Thrace Athanasios Karountzos to investigate Mayor Karabatzos’ management of municipal funds intended for school heating. The Minister claims that the funds had been approved on the 29th of August, disputing Karabatzos’ claim that the funds “had just been approved”.
Mr. Karabatzos disputed the Ministry of Interior’s claim, but praised the 8-million-euro emergency grant for the heating needs of schools across Greece as a positive development. The Mayor then explained that the 78,000 euros for the heating of his municipality’s 54 schools were approved on the 25th of November, which comes to 1,440 euros (480 per month) for each school, which is not enough to cover school needs.
The Mayor also pointed out that his municipality was still owed another installment of the heating grant, since the first installment of this the 2013 grant was paid out in lieu of the fourth and final grant installment of 2012. The Ministry of Interior has not addressed this matter. Mr. Karabatzos concluded that “the truth is that the money is simply not enough”.
