NISCEMI (CALTANISSETTA) (ITALPRESS) – The faults of this disaster? “Of course not of nature. Here man has responsibility because something could be done.” So in an interview with the Corriere della Sera the mayor of Niscemi, Massimiliano Conti. “The Municipality – he explains – has a poor structure. In any case, I would like to recall that the funding was not assigned to Niscemi but to the commissarial structure that deals with hydrogeological dissesto”. “As far as we are concerned, I would just like to remind you that we have obtained the funds for the 1997 landslide, those for the second and third phase, only in December 2025, a month ago (they are the funds for the demolitions and compensation of the residents with the second home, ndr). We obtained them after requesting them on October 18 of each saint year,” the first citizen underlines.
With regard to the declarations of the Minister for Civil Protection, Nello Musumeci, according to which they serve projects to give money, states: “Repeal, we have a commissarial structure and so things are a little different. But I don’t want a political clash at this time of great emergency. I have to take care of my fellow citizens. There is the problem of those who lost the house, the displaced, there is that of the schools, the viability… In any case, on the hydrogeological front we had uploaded all data on the Rendis platform (it is the data bank managed by Ispra on behalf of the Ministry of the Environment, ndr). Because I was really worried, so much so that in November 2024 I made an employment order to monitor the situation. They had reported the need to tighten the waters.”.
And in reference to the monitoring of the landslide, “we had reported the west side – he says -. It was a surprise for me that everything came down this way because we had no signals.” To the question whether other houses will collapse, he says: “Unfortunately yes, you understand it to the naked eye, it is the law of gravity. I asked to know the evolution of the land and the causes. It is very extensive, I need precise scientific and technical evidence to protect my community. For me this is a devastating experience, the worst I have ever experienced. And thank God there were no victims.”.
Among the first works to be done, says the mayor Massimiliano Conti “the safety of the territory and the preservation of the Belvedere that is 250 years old. I also told President Schifani: he cannot be demolished because he is the identity of our history.” As for the displaced, “there is the immediate contribution we are making. Then you will have to think about the recovery of housing.”.
And for those who lost them “we try to give an urgent answer to those who do not have second homes. And then there are some hypotheses, including that of relocation in a new area.” On how many people will have to leave their homes, “it will depend on the extension of the red zone that will be defined on the basis of the data that will provide us the technicians – explains the first citizen -. If we fix it 100 meters from the edge of the land are about a thousand. I hope of course this is a lower figure.”.
And on the proposal to move part of the funds allocated to the Bridge on the Strait on Niscemi, he comments: “It’s a question to ask the government, I take primary care of the affected population. I’ve done it since the first day, since I went there immediately and saw a house fall. I called the owners with their heart in their throats, thankfully they were out. The evacuation I started it personally during the landslide.”.
“The disaster – the mayor Massimiliano Conti continues – will change the life of our city that will be reconsidered with much foresight and with certain dates, as Meloni asked us when he came here without notice”.
– Photo IPA Agency –
(ITALPRESS).
