TRIESTE Apartments taken by force, with the lock replaced, sometimes with illegal electricity connections. There have been 13 illegal occupations found in Trieste from March 2023 to today. In other cases it was not possible to contest the crime because the occupants had already left the accommodation, sensing the possibility of an imminent eviction.
Three distinct operations
Recently, three separate operations by the Judicial Police Unit (NPG) and the Unit for Special Interventions (NIS) of the local police made it possible to free 5 homes. The first intervention dates back to April 13th, in a municipal building in via dei Cunicoli. Other residents of that condominium had sent a report: they had noticed that the lock of an empty apartment had been tampered with. The local police, intervening, had thus identified three people who had illegally occupied the property, reporting them for complicity in illegal occupation and aggravated damage to public property.
Public construction
Trieste, over 200 new homes recovered by Ater to be assigned this year
Laura Tonero
February 12, 2024
Old road in Istria
The other operation dates back to 19 April, in Strada Vecchia dell’Istria 3. Once again the alarm had been raised by the tenants of the same Ater building, who had noticed illegal connections to the electricity network, with improvised and therefore dangerous modifications to meters located in a stairwell. The local police operators, who intervened with AcegasAps Amga technicians and Ater representatives, found two apartments occupied by as many people, who were then reported for the theft of electricity and damage.
The last eviction
Finally, a few days ago, on 23 April, the last eviction, in Ponziana, of an Ater apartment in via Orlandini and another, also in public housing, in via D’Isella. The residents, in these two cases, had noted both the occupation and the possibility that illicit trafficking was taking place in the two homes.
When the local police intervened, traces of the occupation inside the buildings were evident, but the squatters had already left.
«In general, during the clearance operations, there are no serious reactions from the occupants – says the councilor for security policies Caterina de Gavardo – for the approach adopted by the Npg and NIS staff and also considering how for these interventions, precisely taking into account that there could be reactions, the number of operators employed is important”.
The alleged crimes
The alleged crimes range from illegal occupation to damage, up to theft of electricity. In some cases “a complaint was also made for fraud against third parties – says De Gavardo – who illegally pocketed the rent from the occupants”.
The councilor underlines how «when faced with this phenomenon we cannot look the other way, allowing free zones to be created: politics must seriously address the problem, intervening quickly in the face of reports, as ours is doing Local police” .
Important numbers
Compared to other cities, where illegal occupations register significant numbers, with entire buildings left in the hands of squatters for years, here «the phenomenon is contained – notes the president of Ater Riccardo Novacco – precisely due to the speed of intervention of the local police who does not underestimate any report.” «We are lucky – he adds – because here the problem is sporadic, under control, but we don’t let our guard down». Novacco’s appeal to Ater tenants is to “continue to report any anomalies, because the response is immediate”.
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