Laura Paillard and Emiliano Dario Esposito
May 22, 2024 7.45pm
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“We help each other and continue to support each other like a big family. But we are abandoned by the institutions.” Pozzuoli is in the streets, out of fear and protest. The intensification of bradyseismic activity in recent days is exasperating citizens. On the Pertini seafront, where the civil protection set up some tents after the strong earthquake on Monday evening, numerous residents staged a road block.
The accusation against the government, region and municipality is that they do not provide for the essential needs of those who are afraid. The request is a greater number of tents, the possibility of installing a real evicted camp. Even for those who could stay at home, but are too afraid to do so and have nowhere to go.
“They left us alone”, explain the people present who want to talk. “We have buildings without elevators, people are afraid, there are heart patients and disabled elderly people. They must assist us, give us the opportunity to sleep in the street if it is appropriate to do so. How can we escape from our homes if the stairs are cracked, there are none elevators, and we have nowhere to go?”.
The municipal police on the one hand want to keep the protest at bay (also because on the other hand the traffic in the entire Phlegraean area is heavily congested), on the other hand to comfort those present. It is difficult, and it is also clear that something is not working in the relationship between the security authorities and the population.
The words of Minister Musumeci
It is difficult for the citizens who took to the streets to be reassured by what Minister Musumeci declared at the end of the inter-ministerial summit on the Phlegraean Fields which was held at Palazzo Chigi. “We need to tell people that those who chose to live in that area knew they were living in a difficult complex area, which presents some risks – he said – We do not have a clear perception of the extent of the risk and its evolution , we only remember it when the earth shakes is a big mistake and a big limitation.”
