What is happening in Messina and the Mayor Federico Basile? Where did the confidence go? “account keeper” with which, haughtily, he responded to our articles and to those who raised doubts about the management of funds and the non-existence of new projects, new ideas and new financing?
After the note from the mayor of Messina sent yesterday from the press office of the Municipality it suddenly turns out that the clouds now looming over the municipal administration of Messina are thick and thick and no longer on the horizon as when we had written and warned about it early and several times right from the start from 2023.
MARCH 2023 – THE COHESION AGENCY HAD ALREADY DISPUTED ALMOST EVERYTHING
We have written a lot and reported even more, starting from March last year when we indicated as an alarm signal a letter received by the Basile municipal administration from Dr Giorgio Martinidirector ofAgency for Territorial Cohesionwhich was clearly read the difficult situation affecting the planning capacity of Mayor Basile and his entourage. “When ever” the Mayor denied with disdain and overshadowing the risk of the false news, “it is only an intermediate phase” he said. And again Basile declared “TAmong the various interlocutions, yesterday, Wednesday 15 March 2023, the sending of a simple email by the Cohesion Agency highlightedor the necessary production of specifications regarding a series of interventions for which, despite consistency with the guidelines of the National Plan, some aspects of the purposes are not clear. Furthermore, subsequent meetings are already scheduled aimed at defining the interventions up to their definitive version which, following the signing of the agreement, can be implemented. These conversations are completely normal“. But reading that document it turns out that Doctor Giorgio Martini on behalf of the Cohesion Agency had already declared five of 18 projects ineligible and he had declared some only two without critical issues.
FEBRUARY 2023 – CARLOTTA PREVITI LEAVES AND THE BASILE COUNCIL’S PROJECT SYSTEM COLLAPSES
The February 24before the arrival of Martini’s letter, Carlotta Previti Basile had left the council “for personal reasons”. A very significant event given that up until that moment the deus ex machina Dr. Previti, an expert of caliber, was responsible for the entire planning, fundraising, programming and development capacity. Why did Dr. Previti leave? The reasons are probably very similar to all those that we have been hearing for some time now from those who have left the movement in recent months Cateno De Lucamayor of Taormina always travelling, always on the electoral campaign.
THE 37 MILLION LOST: THE CLEAR CRITICAL ISSUES CONTESTED BY THE COHESION AGENCY
Carlotta Previti he left the council in February last year and in the following month that letter/email from the Cohesion Agency arrived in which, with today’s experience, we understand what is really behind Basile’s cry of alarm which places all the responsibility for a real one on the Government debacle regarding the beyond 37 million in funding lost and that they could be used for Messina. Senators Germanà and Musolino they demonstrated that those funds were lost and not “stolen” as the usual manipulated narrative of Mayor Basile’s press office would imply. Lost because not spent in time.
But why weren’t they employed? The explanation probably lies in what we read in Martini’s letter in which the Cohesion Agency rejects the Basile council’s plan almost across the board. The letter in question bears the title “Indications from the MA following the dispatches (on 01/02/2023 and 10/02/2023) of the proposed Operational Plan under the “PN METRO plus and medium-sized cities in the South” 2021-2027 of the Municipality of Messina (see . also bilateral meetings on 02/02/2023, 02/04/2023, 02/06/2023).
Cohesion Agency FAILES 5 PROJECTS OUT OF 18 – CRITICAL FEATURES OUT OF 15
In that letter out of 18 projects presented, Martini completely rejected FIVEFor others QUINDICI reported obvious critical issues and to be explored further. Doctor Martini indicated the absence of critical issues for only TWO of the 18 projects presented for admission to the use of financing. A Waterloo down the line. In particular, here are the projects for which manager Martini indicated ineligibility:
- The Way of the Woods €3,000,000.00, “The project cannot be financed”
- MadeinME €2,600,000.00 “The project cannot be financed”
- Impresa.NET €3,000,000.00, “The project cannot be financed”
- Green School-Buses Project – €3,471,400.00 it is not admissible
- Adaptation of the Giostra junction viaducts – €3,000,000.00 it is not admissible
THE EVIDENT CRITICAL ISSUES OF OTHER PROJECTS – Cohesion Agency “WE DO NOT FINANCE ORDINARY MAINTENANCE”
As regards the projects presented with “obvious” critical issues there really is everything:
- Securing the GAMM – air conditioning and video surveillance to protect
works for the enjoyment and staging of large exhibitions. Martini writes “the museum was inaugurated in 2012 in this case it is restore what has evidently broken in the meantime because it has not been maintained. Be careful because maintenance is not permitted - Restoration of the Convent and the Monumental Gallery of the Grand Cemetery of Messina with tourist/cultural impact – the project has a amount of 3 million and provides for the restoration of the monumental cemetery (or just the neo-Gothic chapel?) and the creation of the entire communication and information system (the geo-referenced tourist guide) that increase the use of this cemetery considered an urban park: measure revenue and/or increase in use. This is what Martini indicated, and since then the work has been at a standstill.
- Securing the Mili San Marco school – OP5 has sectoral thematic projects (culture, tourism, urban safety, ecotourism) and territorial projects (where a portion of the city is recovered with at least two specific objectives, different thematic areas). you can recover the school (currently closed) and make the area safe by working against hydrogeological risk (not just a wall). Works by Static/Seismic Safety Commissioning of the Cannizzaro Galatti school – seismic safety measures and restoration of property placed under the protection of the superintendence. For these two interventions, Dr. Martini reminds the Basile Council that “Restoration/construction of school buildings, seismic adaptation, efficiency improvement, etc. etc. they have always been projects of the PON of the MIUR (See PON School and PON Education in previous programming) and POR. It is therefore necessary to evaluate the strategic nature of the use of the PN Metro for these projects.
- Messina Accessible and inclusive city – I recommend giving additionality (not just repaving) and recognizability to the project (specific walkways and places, with an urban design and conceived according to a project) otherwise it is ordinary maintenance and is not eligible.
- Realization of Antonelliano Virtual Museum – House Museum of Antonello da Messina – the project has its own logic, “it remains to be understood what is achieved: a “virtual” museum is a museum entirely on the web, it wouldn’t cost more than 3 million” writes Martini.
- Social Inclusion: “as regards the interventions financed using the ESF plus, a remodulation of the interventions was carried out by including only those aimed at providing services. In fact, initially it was proposed to purchase housing for vulnerable people, however, this type of intervention cannot be financed with ESF plus resources, therefore they were eliminated from the OP”. To arrange this project to be eligible, it took TWO meetings with the municipal administration, but nevertheless… “On a date subsequent to n. 2 meetings (one in plenary and one specific OP4, as described above), held with the Municipality of Messina, the city has sent a new proposal for an operational plan (version 07/02/2023). The proposed plan, sent on February 10th, still has unclear references both to the creation of infrastructures for the creation of services and references to the use of financial instruments”.
- Conversion of the multi-storey car park to an interchange hub and a management center for car park management – €3,528,600.00. The description of the intervention requires further investigation to provide further clarification regarding the subject of the financing. The sheet states that “Within the structure, (I) areas equipped for sharing mobility services (car, bike, cargo bike) will be created, with provision for the purchase of vehicles dedicated to sharing, (II) specific infrastructures intended for to the charging of the electric vehicles used (III) created areas for the charging of bike sharing services and scooters as well as areas for the storage of private vehicles for soft mobility.” However, it also indicates that “The structure will also host a new business center intended for offices for urban mobility.” It is necessary to provide clarifications on the subject of the financing.
- Effective communication for the city of Messina €1,500,000.00. It’s not clear why they aren’t overlapping with other activities already financed
- FULLDIGiME – Full Digital Messina €2,469,525.00 IThe project involves the “… digitalisation of all citizen services left out of measure 1.4.1 of the PNRR, such as: declarations, requests, payments and communications with the institution.” With respect to this need, it is important to pay attention to the self-consistency of the project. Please remember that the carrying out of ordinary maintenance activities is not permitted
The analysis is relentless. The result too. And the call to arms against the Government for the revision of the PNRR which absorbs all the resources not used by the Municipalities it is superfluous, late. and it does not constitute an alibi.
