Josephine McKenna
From The Times July 31, 2009
Silvio Berlusconi ignored protesters when he toured the earthquake-hit town of L’Aquila yesterday and boasted that projects to rehouse those made homeless were superior to those everywhere else in the world.
In a carefully managed visit to the town in the Abruzzo region the Italian Prime Minister appeared to sidestep almost all contact with the 20,000 people living in 140 tent communities.
His entourage invited only TV cameras and photographers to follow at a discreet distance as he greeted building workers in Bazzano on L’Aquila’s outskirts, where construction of apartments is taking place.
Mr Berlusconi was reported to have been met by 70 angry residents when he visited the city council offices while journalists were kept waiting for him several miles away. The devastating earthquake in April killed 300 people and left 50,000 homeless.
Mr Berlusconi was said to have been met by around 70 angry residents when he visited the city council offices unaccompanied by media, while journalists were kept waiting for him several miles away.
Mr Berlusconi said that construction was on target and that 30,000 people would have housing by mid-November or, at the latest, by the end of year.
“This kind of extraordinary operation has never happened anywhere else in the world,” he said. “Not with Katrina [the hurricane that struck New Orleans], or with earthquake reconstruction in Japan or China.”
Accompanied by the head of the Civil Protection authority, Guido Bertolaso, Mr Berlusconi shook hands with construction workers and raised the Italian flag. He claimed that 15,000 apartments would be completed by the end of September and 4,000 damaged homes would be repaired by the end of September.
Sara Vegni, a spokesman for protest group 3.32, named after the time that the April earthquake took place, said too many people would be forced to remain in the tents.
It was Mr Berlusconi’s first visit to L’Aquila since he presided over the G8 summit in July. He had pledged to visit every week to ensure the completion of building projects.
The mayor of L’Aquila, Massimo Cialente, said that the Government had not done enough to help the homeless and although the city of L’Aquila had received €20 million (£17 million) for housing reconstruction, another €120 million was still required.
As Mr Berlusconi toured L’Aquila, he faced some of his strongest criticism yet from the Catholic Church.
Monsignor Riccardo Fontana told the Italian daily, La Repubblica, that average Italians were disgusted by “excessive transgressions” that had allegedly occurred recently and that any form of adultery was unacceptable.
“You can never justify adultery,” Monsignor Fontana told the Italian daily. The Archbishop appeared to be responding to complaints on the letters page of the Catholic bishops’ daily newspaper, Avvenire, that the Catholic Church had failed to respond adequately to allegations about Mr Berlusconi’s sexual encounters with Patrizia D’Addario and liaisons with other women.
In L’Aquila, 1,500 construction workers are trying to complete the housing promised by Mr Berlusconi and another 1,000 are expected to arrive soon.
In April the Italian Cabinet set aside €8.5 billion for reconstruction in Abruzzo, €1.5 billion of which was allocated for emergency measures.
Giuseppe Ruocco, a computer engineer from Pile, near L’Aquila has been living in a tent with his wife, two children, his parents and mother-in-law since the earthquake. He said that more government funds were needed to remove the rubble and to help families return home.
Professor Emanuele Tondi, an earthquake expert from the University of Camerino, north of L’Aquila, warned that there could be more serious earthquakes in the region in the next few months.
Professor Tondi said that there were signs that an earthquake measuring at least 5 or 6 in magnitude could strike north of L’Aquila and the towns of Montereale, Cittareale and Campotosto, were particularly vulnerable.
The L’Aquila earthquake was the most deadly in Italy since 1980, when more than 2,500 people were killed near Naples.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article6734070.ece
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