A funding package of 1.5 million euros has been “proudly approved” for the Municipality of Ierapetra to repair networks and infrastructure destroyed by the wildfires of July 2, 2025.
Yes, 1.5 million.
For a municipality the size of a small country.
After catastrophic fires.
We are talking about an amount of money that might fix half a burned utility pole and maybe—maybe—a single manhole cover if they find a discount.
The decision was made on October 7, 2025, by KEKA and the Ministry of Finance, which moved with the speed and urgency of a medicated turtle.
The official invitation for project submissions is now “being processed” and will appear on DIAVGEIA next week. Meaning: first the fire burns everything, then the community struggles alone, and months later the government proudly announces paperwork.
A triumphant announcement about almost nothing
The press release insists this funding is a “significant step toward relief.”
A step? Absolutely.
Significant? Only if the comparison is “no money at all.”
Let us be honest:
After fires that destroyed networks, landscapes, businesses, and lives, 1.5 million euros is the bureaucratic equivalent of saying:
“Your house burned down, but here is a paintbrush for when you rebuild.”
And of course, Mr. Plakiotakis must appear
In his official statement, MP for Lasithi and Vice President of Parliament, Mr. Giannis Plakiotakis, repeated the usual line:
“The protection and immediate restoration of the affected areas is an absolute priority…”
Yes, we can see that.
When it takes three months to approve an amount that does not even cover the electrical cables, “absolute priority” starts to sound more like:
“We will get to it when we get to it.”
He “intervened repeatedly,” which apparently means he mentioned it a few times until someone got tired and pressed Approve.
Ierapetra is facing a mountain of problems. The state sent it a plastic toy shovel.
And then wrapped the gesture in a press release written like a victory speech.
Meanwhile, Crete keeps burning, flooding, and collapsing, and every official announcement still arrives with the same cheerful delusion:
“A solution is coming!”
Yes.
It is coming.
On foot.
Stopping for coffee every two kilometers.