Folegandros: municipal record for 2024-2026

A Special Public Session on the record of achievements of the Folegandros municipal authority for 2024-2026 was held in the municipality’s Multipurpose Hall. The record was organised around nine thematic areas and was presented as the first fully comprehensive and open account in the municipality’s history. Speaking at the session were Mayor Kyriakos Marinakis, the President of the Municipal Council, Deputy Mayors Tilla Balli and Antonis Papadopoulos, as well as the President of the Stray Animals Committee, Christoforos Divolis, all members of the “Folegandros for All” list. The mayor said the priority remains “improving the quality of life for residents and visitors.” The special public accountability session is provided for under local government legislation, is held openly, and gives residents and the island’s bodies the chance to put questions to the municipal authority.

The financial section of the record focused on the trajectory of the cash balance. According to the figures presented, the municipality’s actual cash balance stood at €665,996.44 in 2024 and €873,730.42 in 2025, compared with €156,487.69 in 2022 and €180,413.77 in 2023 — a level several times that of the previous two years. In administration, the municipality’s staff positions grew by 58% by 2025, while registrations of municipal property in the E9 tax form rose from three to 39. Recording municipal assets is a prerequisite for their use or transfer, as happened with the property handed over to the Ministry of Culture for an Archaeological Museum and the plot given to the Ministry of Citizen Protection for a Police Station. A 50% reduction in municipal fees was also decided for vulnerable groups and families with three or more children, while over 170 residents had new ID cards issued on the island.

The chapter with the greatest practical significance for a small, water-poor island is water supply. According to the record, 24-hour year-round water supply was secured for Karavostasi, Ano Meria, Livadi and Agkali, while supply hours were extended in Chora and Themonies. Rural cisterns in Chora, Ano Meria and Petousi are now filled free of charge, a measure that directly affects the island’s livestock farming and crops, while 1,300 metres of piping were replaced, an intervention that limits network losses. Infrastructure projects include a new desalination unit with a budget of €600,000, as well as water supply works worth €1.3 million and sewerage works worth €3.7 million through the “Antonis Tritsis” programme. Desalination covers demand during peak months, when the island’s population multiplies, but depends on a stable power supply, an issue linked to the completion of the Cyclades’ electrical interconnection.

Among the other projects presented were two playgrounds worth €105,000 from the “Filodimos II” programme, a sports park worth €341,000 with an inclusion decision of €600,000, a heliport worth €130,000, a new Regional Clinic worth €20,000, accessible beaches in Karavostasi worth €67,713, and rehabilitation of the old uncontrolled landfill worth €709,528. A study for a Multipurpose Clinic worth €700,000 has also been launched, while Folegandros’s marine zone is expected to be included in one of the two new National Marine Parks. The record documents what has been included or carried out, but it is not a timetable: for most of these projects, no completion date or tendering stage has been announced. It has also not been made known when the new desalination unit will come into operation, while residents can look up individual decisions on Diavgeia, where every expenditure commitment is published as required by law.