Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 14-09-01

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From: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>

CONTENTS

[01] Greece has entered the phase of fiscal adjustment, gov't spokesperson says

[02] Deputy Education Minister resigns for personal reasons

[03] Extrovert Policy Coordination Committee convenes on Monday

[04] New public transport fares effective on Monday

[05] New finds at Amphipolis as excavation proceeds

[01] Greece has entered the phase of fiscal adjustment, gov't spokesperson says

Regarding the negotiations with the troika in Paris, she underlined that emphasis will be given on reforms, adding that unilateral actions lead to situations similar to Argentina.

"We avoided dramatic situations that we don't and can't even imagine. All figures are positive, a primary surplus exists, spreads have fallen, Greek bonds perform well, international rating agencies upgrade the Greek economy, tranches of economic aid are disbursed, all prior actions agreed in order to negotiate the debt have been met," Voultepsi added.

As for main opposition SYRIZA's pledges, the government spokesperson called on them to present their plans. "SYRIZA is vague, speaks with ambiguities, does not say clearly what it intends to tax, they talks about 'basic programmatic guidelines', 'basic axes' and 'key priorities'."

Regarding the President of the Republic, Voultepsi noted that the government is preoccupied with other important issues at the moment, and this will be discussed in time. She added, however, that each person who unites the nation is suitable for the position and that once someone is chosen for this position, his precedent political positions cease to exist.

[02] Deputy Education Minister resigns for personal reasons

In his letter, Koukoudimos explains "personal and only personal reasons forced me to tender my resignation from the position of Deputy Education and Religion Minister."

Koukoudimos, however, clarified that he would continue to support Prime Minister Antonis Samaras and New Democracy (ND) and its governmental work from his position as member of parliament.

[03] Extrovert Policy Coordination Committee convenes on Monday

The committee chaired by Deputy Development Minister Notis Mitarachi will convene at the Development and Competitiveness ministry at noon.

[04] New public transport fares effective on Monday

The monthly pass price will be reduced to 30 euros from 45 euros currently, while ordinary fare will cost 1.20 euros from 1.40 euros and will be valid for 70 minutes instead of 1.5 hours.

"We got a key strategic decision: One city, one network, one agency. In order to implement our policy, there are four basic principles: cooperation, mutual respect, decisions, work," Infrastructure, Transport and Networks Minister Michalis Chryssohoidis said on Wednesday.

Regarding the new tariff policy as of September, Chryssochoidis stressed that the whole procedure is simplified adding "one ticket, one card, one network. With 1 euro a day, you go anywhere, you move around the city as many times as you want using all means of transport."

[05] New finds at Amphipolis as excavation proceeds

One of the latest discoveries revealed by the archaeologists' trowel include a section of a floor made of irregular pieces of white marble in a red background, in excellent condition, located in the antechamber behind the wall with the two sphinxes, as well as the remains of a fresco with traces of blue colouring on the first diaphragmatic wall behind the sphinxes.

Archaeologists said that all three chambers discovered behind the sealing wall, created by transverse diaphragmatic walls, had been filled with loose sand up to the height of the tholos at the time when the tomb was sealed up, with the diaphragmatic walls acting partly as a support to contain this loose material.

Both the gap in the external sealing wall and the gaps in the diaphragmatic walls, possibly caused by the removal of stones or by failure to insert stones, appear to be a part of the sealing of the tomb. The existence of three chambers along the length of the tholos is also seen as another unique feature of the monument on Kasta Hill, archaeologists said.

The ministry announcement said that the first diaphragmatic wall after the entrance had been revealed up to the Ionic architrave, which was decorated with carved rosettes, while the western section of this is missing.

The entrance leading to the next area of the monument is expected to be discovered once the earth has been removed, while work is continuing to protect the monument from unexpected weather conditions and to dig channels to guide rainwater away from the monument.

Work must also be done to structurally support the tomb and to protect its integrity, especially from pressure exerted by the large quantities of earth within the next chamber.

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