The creation of new playing fields, made possible thanks to the “Dusmet Village in Catania: sport for all” project, brought a breath of fresh air to this small Catania neighborhood, built on the ski slopes located between Ognina and Canalicchio close to the 1960s with a public housing intervention promoted by the Sicilian Agency for Workers’ Housing. However, there seems to be an aspect of the coin. “A large quantity of lava stone – reports the municipal councilor of the M5S, Graziano Bonaccorsi – was dumped about two years ago in land located between via Bartolomeo Altavilla and via Vescovo Maurizio, creating a sort of open-air ‘quarry’, with it is not known what intended use. In the meantime, the usual rude people have deposited piles of rubbish here and some boulders are rolling dangerously into the street.” A request for access to the documents has already been sent but, as these are not works carried out by the Municipality, the responses are currently slow in arriving. No signs are present on site. However, you can still see the traces of the heavy vehicles that deposited the waste material. It is not clear when and, above all, for how long this debris will remain here.
There has been a sewer leak for 12 years
While other reports, sent by residents through the district and municipal councilors who have followed one another in the last two administrations, remain unheeded. “In via Bartolomeo Altavilla – explains Mr. Clemente Grasso, historic resident – for 12 years we have been urging the repair of some sewer leaks. Fortunately, the sewage is ‘intercepted’ by a grate and for this reason alone a swamp is not created. But mice and there is no shortage of mosquitoes, along with the nauseating smell.” Furthermore, in the same area, public lighting would need maintenance work, which takes a long time to arrive and creates road safety problems, especially at night. As demonstrated by the marks left by some road accidents which occurred on curves. “Do you see that torn railing and those barriers? Two years ago a car literally entered my aunt’s balcony – says a lady, who prefers (like many other citizens of the Dusmet Village) not to expose herself publicly – and to remove it it was the intervention of a fire brigade crane was necessary. In the accident, a light pole was sawn and never repaired, as were the railings, in general, this remains the case indefinitely.”
Work on the new community centre
In the meantime, the works for the construction of the new parish of San Giovanni Apostolo ed Evangelista are proceeding smoothly, the project of which, carried out by the Iacp, was financed in 2021 by the Musumeci government with two million and 128 thousand euros. Thanks to the demolition of some buildings located between Largo San Gaspare Bertoni and via La Rocca, a new large aggregation and assistance center will soon be created, particularly awaited by the citizens of the area, who in the meantime can count on other premises temporarily set up for the completion , in a reduced form, of the same services.
