Schifani’s attention it is aimed at the electoral campaign, where the governor’s favorite (without any mystery) is Edy Tamajo; but also to another intermediate goal, which could awaken Sicilian politics from the torpor in which it is immersed these days. That is to say the signing of the Cohesion Agreement with the government of Giorgia Meloni who, after having smoothed out the last critical issues present in the long shopping list, will travel to Sicily – as has already happened in other regions – to reach the agreement hand. Schifani can’t wait to be able to announce his “his” treasure: 6.8 billion from the Development and Cohesion Funds (FSC), to be used for a series of investments in various sectors. Be careful, however: since these are not regional funds, but community ones – Schifani has also appointed a consultant on the matter: Gaetano Armao – they are often used excessively lightly. And, thanks to the somewhat diluted attention of the Court of Auditors or the European control institutions, they end up fueling the saga of waste, or better yet, squandering.
Take the Cannes scandal: faced with criticism from the Democratic Party, which contested the use of a few million for the creation of a photo shoot on the Croisette (through, moreover, a direct assignment to a Luxembourg company with few references), it was still the 2022 edition, the he former tourism councilor Manlio Messina adopted the most provincial of excuses: “They are not regional funds, they are European funds that we have available precisely for tourism promotion”. Here is the shopping list: 250 thousand euros awarded to Patrick Moja, curator of the exhibition; 253 thousand euros for the rental of the pavilions; 564 thousand for fittings; 219 thousand euros allocated to the “press office and communication”. A promotion, perhaps, a little too strong. Even the SeeSicily program, you will undoubtedly remember, came under the magnifying glass not only of the Palermo Prosecutor’s Office and the Court of Auditors, but of the European Commission, which went so far as to challenge the somewhat too casual use of resources to purposes “not very relevant” to tourism itself, but still useful to fuel the monstrous machine of consensus: the 24 million allocated to “communication” cry out for revenge, even if no one – so far – has identified precise responsibilities.
Having made these necessary assumptions, and taking it for granted that certain experiences will not be repeated, it is very difficult to ask the Region to be able to spend such an amount of millions (referring to the 2021/27 programming) quickly. It is the same Region that is reporting atavistic delays on numerous structural reforms, such as that of the Forestry and Land Reclamation Consortia; it is the Region that has been unable, for months, to complete the appointment of the 18 general directors of health, which seems to have been definitively postponed until after the European elections; it is the Region that is unable to rent two heavy helicopters to put out fires. But also the one that doesn’t have enough technicians to draw up the projects and, nevertheless, struggles to recruit staff through competitions (by the way: what happened to the encore competition for the hiring of 46 forestry agents?). Breaking away from reality to the point of hypothesizing a prosperous future is an operation of faith that requires caution: first of all because it is not our money, and secondly because it will be necessary to certify the expenditure down to the last cent (under penalty of reimbursement of the sums and yet another, terrible fool).
Schifani, who doesn’t do this for a living the oracle but governs Sicily, remains confident: “Thanks to the continuous and fruitful collaboration with the national government, the programming of the resources of the Development and Cohesion Fund assigned to Sicily is now in the final phase – he said yesterday -. The excellent collaborative relationship with Minister Fitto, a point of reference for our government in recent months, is bearing fruit. In fact, we will soon sign the agreement with Prime Minister Meloni: almost seven billion euros which represent important resources for the development of our island”. To understand how and when this money will be spent, we will need to see the updated shopping list – and already subjected to corrections by the Ministry of Cohesion – starting from a couple of ‘items’ that contribute to fueling the doubts.
Let’s start with the first: out of the 2.4 allocated to the “Transport and mobility” sector, 1.3 are intended for co-financing for the Strait Bridge. A work about which almost nothing is known, and whose realization is still uncertain. While the owners of the houses – better known as “expropriators” – support the reasons for the ‘no’ on both sides, Salvini – also an evil genius – has mortgaged an enormous slice of Sicilian resources, provoking, in the first instance, the Schifani’s fury. The episode was later classified as a mere “communication error”, but profound and accentuated doubts remain about the validity of the operation. Especially if it doesn’t go through: how long will it take for the billion to return to the island’s availability to be remodeled for other works? And above all, which “reserve” projects could accommodate such a copious form of investment? The Infrastructure Councilor Aricò does not make a drama out of it and explains that the amount available (1.1 billion) “will certainly contribute to Sicily filling the infrastructure gap that has always penalized it”. But we are at the point of return, the one where words are not enough: what will really happen? Which works will be financed? Which ones, however, will sadly remain outside and will need a “parachute”, perhaps aiming at other forms of financing (certainly not regional)?
The second suspicious voice is the one linked to waste-to-energy plants. Even in this case, these are futuristic plants, which require a long preparation process, and for which nothing can be glimpsed other than political will (in addition to an initial appreciation of the Waste Plan and the identification of the areas, in Palermo and Catania, in which to settle them). Apart from the attribution of special powers as commissioner there is nothing else; yet the 800 million from the FSC were “booked” and subtracted from other possible investments. For the “Environment and natural resources” area, 1.3 billion remain: according to the plans of Palazzo d’Orleans these are financing for water resources and waste (340 million), purification (350 million), interventions on river beds (250 million), for the fight against hydrogeological instability (400 million) and coastal erosion (50 million).
A portion of the funds amounting to approximately 450 million, is foreseen for the financing of measures on the competitiveness of businesses, in particular in the industry and services and tourism and hospitality sectors. The programming also includes 120 million euros for sports facilities within the “Culture” thematic area, which includes another 170 million for interventions on heritage and landscape. For the “Social and health” sector, 250 million euros are expected, which also include investments in healthcare facilities and equipment. A sum of 100 million euros each has been foreseen for the “Energy” and “Urban redevelopment” sectors and for school buildings. Net of this subdivision, however, a window remains wide open on the future. With a huge sum to spend – a sad recognition of the gap that separates Sicily from the more advanced regions – and the doubt that we will not be able to do it (as we have not been in the past). It is not pessimism but realism. Yet there will be the banquet with Schifani, Fitto and Meloni: they will promise heaven and earth, then they will turn the other way. We’ll talk about it again in a few years.
