The 200 million of the Pnrr to replace the “migrant ghettos” were never spent. The unions’ fear that the funds could be used for something else
Yet another insult on the shoulders of the workers: they have been allocated 200 million euros from the Pnrr to overcome the illegal settlements where thousands of agricultural workers live, mostly foreigners and often exploited, but these funds are blocked for months. He reveals it The print in a long background story that underlines how the areas have been identified for two years, but nothing has yet been done. According to the report on “The housing conditions of migrants working in the agri-food sector” published in June 2022 by the Ministry of Labor and the National Association of Italian Municipalities, there would be 150 unauthorized settlements hosting approximately 10,000 immigrants among occupied farmhouses and buildings, shacks, tents and caravans. Real ghettos, unlivable, indecent and dangerous, which should be replaced with areas equipped with habitable modules and necessary services.
To catch up, La Stampa further underlines, the Meloni government last March he decided to appoint a ad hoc commissioner. The nomination, however, only came at the beginning of June, that is 60 days later than expected from the decree that established this new figure, report the Chamber’s work and agriculture group leaders, Valentina Barzotti and Alessandro Caramiello. Added to the delay of the plan was the delay of those who should implement it. The task was entrusted to prefect of Latina Maurizio Falco, which will have responsibilities throughout the national territory, eliminating the powers of the three commissioners who dealt with the degraded areas of Caserta, Foggia and Reggio Calabria. According to decree 19/2024, the designation should have been made by the Ministry of Labour, but since it was a prefect, the choice was made by the Interior Ministry. According to Flai-Cgil, this is a clear “violation of the prerogative of appointment, assumed by the Minister of the Interior”. The fear of the union, which has been pushing for weeks to unblock the situation, is that it is a ploy to change the intended use of the 200 million of the Pnrr.
The mapping arranged by the then Minister of Labour Andrea Orlando it had to serve as a basis for identifying the most critical situations on which to intervene and concentrate resources, he further underlines The print. “The government has so far turned a blind eye to the phenomenon of gangmastering and undeclared work,” the former PD minister wrote on Facebook on Friday. “And yet, those who today promise new interventions had some tools already available and resources with which to intervene. But they preferred to postpone or delay commitments undertaken by the previous government in the direction of a clear contrast to gangmastering and greater dignity for tens of thousands of workers “. Orlando cited the plan for overcoming illegal settlements, which he defines as “historic places of recruitment and exploitation by gangmasters, which we had included among the qualifying points of the PNRR”. According to Orlando, “after the installation of the Meloni government just inertia and finally a commissioner measure to oust Minister Calderone, evidently considered a slowdown, but in any case we did not see the necessary continuity with the actions we had implemented. This project is at very high risk of not being realized if the government does not start working on it seriously.”
Second the ANCI investigationout of 608 municipalities where the presence of foreign workers employed in the agri-food sector, there are 38 municipalities where informal or spontaneous settlements and unauthorized structures are recorded. Of these, 36 require “priority” and “super-priority” interventions. In most cases they are located in the South (21) and on the Islands (8), 4 are in the Centre, 3 in the North West and 2 in the North East. In total there are 11 regions involved: Puglia with 12 units (of which 8 in the province of Foggia) is the one where the phenomenon is most relevant, followed by Sicily (8), Calabria (5) and Campania (3). The list also includes Alba and Saluzzo in Piedmont, Albenga in Liguria, Rovigo in Veneto, Porto Recanati in the Marche and Pescara in Abruzzo, obviously Latina in Lazio and Castel Volturno in Campania, Rosarno in Calabria and Castelvetrano in Sicily. Most of these settlements have been present in the area for several years: 11 have existed for more than 20 years and 7 for over 10. How does the government respond to the mounting protests? The issue was raised among others by Davide Fiatti of the national secretariat of Flai-Cgil during a meeting with the ministers of Labor and Agriculture, Calderone and Lollobrigida, convened after the Latina tragedy. Fiatti pointed the finger at “that authentic shame that is the ‘informal settlements’, real ghettos where thousands and thousands of migrants survive in miserable conditions, unworthy of a civilized country”. Result: no response.
#Laborers #mockery #million #Pnrr #replace #ghettos #frozen