THEthe Forza Italia municipal councilor in Foggia, Pasquale Rignaneseregistered a question to the mayor Maria Aida Episcopo and the president of the municipal council Lia Azzarone on the situation of the Registry and Civil Status Office.
“It takes 4 months – says Rignanese – to get an identity card and the Episcopo administration doesn’t seem to care that much”. Then he adds: “The press reports regarding the critical conditions in which the Registry Office of the Municipality of Foggia finds itself are only the tip of the iceberg of discontent and concern circulating among the citizens of Foggia. The documentation released by the Civil Registry and Registry offices is sometimes of vital importance. The identity card, in fact, is essential not only for signing contracts but also for treatment in public or private facilities, collecting a pension, undergoing collegial visits, traveling abroad (often for work-related reasons), signing notarial deeds, participate in sports competitions or school trips. I don’t know if you tried to book today: the earliest available date is September! That is, in 4 months!”.
And again: “A situation that has worsened over the years not only due to lack of personnel but also due to the presence of obsolete IT tools. Yet, according to statistics from Anusca (the national association of civil registry and registry officials), approximately 80% of citizens who turn to a municipality need certificates issued by the registry office and civil registry office. Civil registry offices in Foggia have problems with the supply of paper and toner, not to mention broken printers and obsolete PCs. And a city that has difficulty doing the deeds of deceased people is not a civilized city. And in the Registry, the documentation to be kept is piled up in boxes of A4 sheets. All this while there are offices (only the luckiest ones) with PCs worth several thousand euros and with all the material needed to do their job as best as possible. Despite this, if today the problem is still being addressed it is only thanks to the self-sacrifice of the employees of this service, who should be valued and encouraged and not just with further work to be disposed of with overtime”.
In Rignanese’s opinion, “probably the councillor Patano and the Personnel manager, as well as the Area manager, probably do not know the offices, do not know the employees, do not know what they do and do not value those personnel who could be useful in alleviating the problem. It would even be enough to ask the officials about the situation of these offices to get a clearer picture of the situation. You would know that being in contact with the public requires a particular sensitivity, a predisposition that is not for everyone. With staff often being verbally attacked by exasperated, overbearing citizens or simply exasperated by this situation. Remember that behind certificates or identity cards there are people’s lives. So for every pensioner for whom the release of their pension will be delayed, for every citizen who will not be able to travel and miss a job opportunity or will not be able to carry out an important medical examination, consider yourself guilty of inaction. And it’s time that the citizens of Foggia knew this.”
