He will have an identification bib, but will not be able to sanction any non-compliance in environmental, hygiene and urban decorum matters which often disfigure – is the right word – the daily image of the City of Stones. The municipal administration of Matera will equip itself with voluntary environmental inspectors, to support the local police in prevention activities for the protection of the environment and urban decorum. This is what is provided for in a dedicated regulation, recently approved by the municipal council, which has we remember that we have implemented a proposal put forward in the previous administration by councilor Augusto Toto (fdi) – which will allow the organization to use inspectors, after a call for voluntary associations and a training period to equip itself with these figures already activated in other regions. The initiative, illustrated by the councilor for the environment Massimiliano Amenta, the president of the reference commission Angela Caldarola and the councilor Gianfranco Losignore, will be operational in the coming months. We do not know at the moment the temporal employment of the volunteers but it would be appropriate for the ‘sentinel’ activity, as councilor Amenta defined the inspectors, to take place continuously and not only in the centre, given the state of degradation of the parks and gardens , often a no man’s land due to the absence of supervision and controls. It would be enough, as repeated on official and non-official occasions, for the Local Police, in patrol services – when possible – to verbally remind anyone to respect urban decorum, that the “rude” would be on their guard. Women and men in uniform, as happens in Florence for example, represent the business card of an “authoritative” Administration for the protection of monuments, of a community and of the different age groups. Verbal warnings and, if necessary, sanctions enforcing the ordinances. Let’s start from here: from authority. In the past, and we remember the contribution of the Anpana association, legality and respect went hand in hand with urban decorum. We await a change of pace, announced several times but remained on paper, waiting to also see the voluntary environmental inspectors at work.
Amenta added that meetings have been held with production associations to improve the quality of separate waste collection, and that a different hourly collection method is being studied with Cosp Tecnoservice, the waste management company. A “rescue” irrigation plan is also being studied to prevent trees and plants from continuing to grow.
MUNICIPALITY OF MATERA
PRESS RELEASE
Urban decoration, soon the expression of interest to establish the first voluntary environmental inspector in the Municipality of Matera.
He will be a volunteer recruited from the many city associations and trained by the municipal administration, he will have monitoring and control tasks on respect for urban decorum with the right to report irregularities, but not to impose sanctions. He is the municipal environmental inspector, a figure identified by the Administration to assist local police officers in their control tasks, with functions of deterrence and accountability of citizens and tourists towards compliance with the minimum standards of urban decorum. The initiative was presented this morning, during a press conference in the town hall, by the Environment councilor Massimiliano Amenta, with the city councilors Angela Caldarola (president of the Environment commission) and Gianfranco Losignore. The areas of competence of the future voluntary environmental inspector will be those of the correct collection of urban waste, dog excrement, the correct use of city waste bins, the abandonment of waste and paper and in general everything that can compromise cleanliness. The Inspector sees, talks to the citizen to make them aware of the correct practices of civility and, in case of recidivism, reports unpleasant situations to the local police. «The next steps for the establishment and recruitment of this figure to help the local police – explained Amenta – will be the expression of interest to collect any applications from the associations and then, once the volunteer has been identified, specific training by of the municipal administration and the appointment decree by the mayor. We will try to leave as soon as possible.” There is also news on the care of the greenery and cleaning of the city centre: «We have prepared an emergency irrigation plan – continued Amenta – especially for the 70 new tree species planted in recent months, which will be irrigated with a criterion of dividing the city into lots . Still on the subject of urban decoration, we have already agreed with the hygiene service manager on more frequent street washing cycles in the summer months, in the streets of the historic centre. Finally, we are talking to the non-domestic users of the centre, to decisively address the collection of waste such as paper and plastic, avoiding evening deposits on the street, which is not nice to see while walking. There will probably be ad hoc steps for collection, agreed with the manager who has shown maximum availability. In short, soon we will no longer see plastic and cardboard boxes abandoned in front of shops as early as 7pm.” Councilor Caldarola appealed to everyone’s civic sense: “If every citizen respected the rules of urban decorum – she remarked – we would all benefit, without being forced to clean where someone has guiltyly made a mess.” Councilor Losignore is also satisfied with the figure of the Environmental Inspector: «Supervising the decorum of our city – he said – is not always an easy commitment, due to the chronic shortage of personnel in the local police. In fact, it is often necessary for officers to pass on foot, to better control the streets of the centre.”
Matera, 9 May 2024
