PESCARA. Years and years of scientific research, public funding and praise from politicians. But all this was not enough to save the Abruzzo centers of excellence at the forefront of research: they fell into abandonment. And now research is delegated only to universities: there are 5 thousand researchers engaged in Abruzzo universities, a number that has grown in the last 15 years. “The darkness of research in Abruzzo” is the title of another episode of “31 minutes”, a weekly journalistic analysis by Rete8 in collaboration with the center which airs this evening at 10.30pm directed by Antonio D’Ottavio and the filming of Luigi Cinquino. An episode dedicated to the abandonment of the Experimental Institute for the Eliotecnica of Città Sant’Angelo and the Mario Negri Sud Institute of Santa Maria Imbaro.
THIEVES AND VANDALS The Città Sant’Angelo research center dedicated to the green gold of Italy, extra virgin olive oil, was inaugurated on 23 April 1972: that of Città Sant’Angelo was one of the 22 research centers of the Ministry of ‘Agriculture scattered across Italy. At the time the minister was Lorenzo Natali from Abruzzo and, thanks to Natali’s intercession, Abruzzo managed to beat the competition from Puglia, another area of excellence for oil. Over 50 years later, the property has ended up in the hands of thieves and vandals and that abandonment is now at the center of an investigation by the Pescara Prosecutor’s Office: the case has been entrusted to the prosecutor Anna Benigni and it was opened on the basis of an important report, that of the Minister of Agriculture Francesco Lollobrigidaone of the premier’s magic circle Giorgia Meloni. The alleged crime is illegal landfill. Inside the mill there is everything: destroyed equipment, devastated laboratories, abandoned artefacts and documents, smashed computers and refrigerators. The Pescara forestry police are carrying out the investigations and have proposed to the Prosecutor’s Office to send a report to the Court of Auditors for treasury damages. For now, there are no suspects but the investigation is only just beginning.
SURPRISE MINISTER Faced with a surreal scenario, the minister was surprised: «I will activate all the tools with the involvement of the competent institutions to verify whether there are any liabilities or avoidable fiscal damage to the public assets in question», said Lollobrigida during an inspection with the police , between April 26th and 28th. After the minister’s intervention, the checks around the dilapidated structure have increased but the future of the oil mill is still unclear: «Together with the Abruzzo Region, the municipal administration and the leaders of Crea, a discussion table will be activated to evaluate the possible destinations of the property also with the involvement of the university world”, this is the minister’s commitment.
STOP SEARCHING To retrace the stages of the Mario Negri Sud case, from its birth to give the young people of Abruzzo and the southern regions the opportunity to carry out scientific research without journeys of hope, it is Andreina Poggi, one of the organization’s first researchers: «Mario Negri Sud was life for us», she says. In Santa Maria Imbaro, since the 1980s, the Mario Negri Sud institute, founded by Silvio Garattini, was the pride of the country. Now in that complex of over 10 thousand square meters of laboratories, offices and apartments, there is only the caretaker with his family and his dogs who keep thieves and vandals at bay. The research organization no longer exists: if you try to write “Mario Negri Sud Santa Maria Imbaro” on Google you will get an obvious answer: a red bar with the words “permanently closed”. Mario Negri Sud has accumulated debt after debt, more than 9 million. Until 2015 with the liquidation, when it was too late to recover and reverse the trend of the accounts in the red: a decree from the prefecture of Chieti spoke of “critical issues that had arisen in the management of the activities”, especially economic ones; the extraordinary commissioner added an “absolutely negative opinion” on the possibility of continuing the activity. Thus, the then president of the court Geremia Spiniello he had to admit that «the purpose of the foundation can no longer be pursued». It is the death sentence of research in Abruzzo.
ACCOUNTS IN RED Already in 2012 the situation of Mario Negri Sud was becoming more and more complicated: in 2011, the operating result still showed a plus of 829 euros, a few pennies which indicated that the wind had changed; the following year the result was a minus 1,455,642 euros; a figure that in 2013 increased further to exceed three million euros, minus 3,047,662 euros. The 2012 budget spoke of 7.5 million debts: one million and 400 thousand euros in overdrafts towards banks, one million and 100 towards financiers, almost two and a half million towards suppliers, as well as tax debts and towards social security institutions. So far it has been impossible to sell that structure: the auctions were all deserted and no one responded to the call to rent the structure. A giant complex, with a considerable operating cost. And so even the Province’s hypothesis of transferring offices seems really impractical.
