Isn’t all the steel in the world worth the life of a single child? The illogical conflict between work and life in Taranto
The May 1st celebration in Taranto promoted by the committee of free and thinking citizens since 2013 in the “city of the two seas” has the merit of maintaining attention towards the issue of the undue conflict of work against the protection of health and the environment.
The event takes place in the area near the modern Co-Cathedral and the Archaeological Park of the Greek Walls “Pierre Wuilleumier”. A green space surrounded by the buildings of urban expansion induced by industrialization linked to the mammoth steelworks considered the largest in Europe.
The issue of production reconversion has remained perpetually suspended while the Arcelor Mittal owners have not yet handed over the reins of management to public ownership and there is fear for the employment of the thousands of workers without an industrial plan.
On the eve of the Liberation deed, on April 23rd the march entitled “The Wave of the Future in Taranto” promoted by 50 associations from Taranto to ask for «a serious economic reconversion of the entire territory starting from the dismantling of the former Ilva plants and the retraining of all the workers, who must become the true protagonists of the decontamination and reclamation of the entire industrial area”. According to the associations “as in a cohesive community, everyone can be that drop that will form an incredible wave for our sustainable future, that of our children and the next generations”.
Meanwhile, the first hearing of the second degree of the trial took place on 19 April “Sold Out Environment“, which involves the management and ownership of the former Ilva of Taranto as well as various exponents of the world of politics.
During the 2021 Catholic social week, pediatrician Annamaria Moschetti brought direct testimony to the intolerable pollution of the area, with the peak of tumors among the youngest, stating that “All the steel in the world is not worth the life of a single child”. An economic and environmental policy criterion that risks, for the umpteenth time, remaining disregarded.
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