The problems faced by irrigation departments and the need to implement a comprehensive plan to address them were discussed on Tuesday before the Parliamentary Committee on Agriculture and Natural Resources.
In a statement after the session, the Chairman of the Committee, Giannakis Gavriel, said that today's session addressed for the umpteenth time the serious sustainability problems facing the irrigation departments, noting that "unfortunately, the relevant government agencies have not come up with anything new in the discussion, which at least gives prospects for the early resolution of these problems."
He said that "the total annual budget of 200 thousand euros, which the government has decided to allocate to solve the problems of irrigation departments facing the most serious problems, looks like a drop in the ocean in front of the mountain of problems."
He added that "at the moment they are facing huge debts of millions to various agencies, which many irrigation departments are unable to serve."
According to the Chairman of the Agriculture Committee, "these problems are affecting the entire countryside horizontally and unless they are resolved we can hardly talk about revitalization of rural and mountain areas."
Gavriel said that "a comprehensive plan should finally be worked out, if necessary the irrigation departments should be integrated under a single entity" and solutions should be initiated to address the problems.
"Either with substantial support for the irrigation departments to make them viable, or by including them in government water projects," he concluded.
Source: CNA
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