SIt is held on Tuesday 21 May at Palazzo di Città a monothematic meeting on legality and safety of the Foggia railway district with the councilors of the Municipality of Foggia Giulio De Santis, Alice Amatore, Daniela Patano, the deputy mayor Lucia Aprile and the Prime Minister Lia Azzaronein which the trade associations Confcommercio, Confesercenti and Confartigianato, the community Difendiamo il Quartiere Ferrovia, the association I Fratelli della Stazione and the Aps Amici del Viale participated.
The Friends of the Viale, always apolitical and non-partisan, represented by their president Maria Luisa De Niro and the other members of the board of directors, Francesco Iudice, Alessandro Villella, Pietro Di Taranto and Roberta Apicella, once again they asked and suggested solutions for civil liveability and coexistence within the neighborhood.
While appreciating the administrative action put in place by the administration Episcopothe worthy operations of the police forces and the announcement of the installation of a new video surveillance system and while understanding the age-old shortage of personnel of the Municipal Police, the institutions cannot and must not give up guaranteeing respect for legality and of civil coexistence in the present time, with the risk of conveying the message that the State does not exist and there are no rules to respect.
The area at the moment it is not under video surveillance, the public cameras stopped working two years ago.
The critical issues and problems of the neighborhood, a mirror of what is happening throughout the city, have been exposed to the competent authorities on several occasions. In terms of the occupation of public land by commercial activities, we are witnessing the illegal trade of varied material of dubious origin and an evident lack of hygiene both on the pavements and on the road surface due to the abandonment of waste of all types and the spilling of the sewer system, aggravated by excrement and release of animal entrails. There is a serious health and hygiene problem, which with summer approaching can no longer be postponed. The recent separate waste collection dedicated to commercial activities has not yet revealed improvements in terms of hygiene and healthiness.
A further problem is represented by traffic in violation of the rules: two-wheeled vehicles often circulate in the opposite direction to that indicated by road signs or on sidewalks, creating risks and dangers for both pedestrians and vehicles that respect the signs.
Furthermore, drug dealing continues in broad daylight, gang-mastering with illegal taxi services in defiance of regional regulations on the transport of workers to the workplace, prostitution is practiced in every nook and cranny, including the entrance halls of buildings. Just a few days ago an elderly woman was subjected to heavy sexual attention while she was returning home.
“The least and weak should not be identified only by wealth or ethnicity, but they are all those who present fragilities – observes President De Niro -. Don’t the elderly have the right to live in a safe and healthy neighborhood and to be able to take advantage of disabled passes? Many residents are in wheelchairs and cannot access the sidewalks, whose slides are constantly occupied. Is it normal that boys and girls of all colors should witness such moral decay on the sidewalks of their city? There can be no integration without respecting the most basic rules. Legality is the basis of all integration. Technology could immediately be a deterrent, requiring the existing cameras to be repaired while waiting for the mega race to come. Careful video surveillance could make up for the absence of municipal officers on the street. We ask for simple, achievable and shared things. Viale XXIV Maggio is a place of historical interest in the city, which must be recognized and invested in, instead of systematically cordoning it off like a ghetto at every concert and cultural and social event. The last event organized in the most beautiful avenue in Foggia dates back to 2019. Beyond political propaganda, electoral rallies and beautiful abstract words on the inclusion of migrants, what do we want to do to stem bivouacs, drug dealing and the release of waste?”.
The Friends of the Avenue are calling for a Limited Traffic Zone in Via Podgora, Via Piave, Via Isonzo and Via Monfalcone; a fixed presence of the Local Police in Via Podgora to combat the display and sale of goods on the pavements; an anti-bivouac union ordinance with a relative ban on the consumption of alcohol on the street; an ordinance for respecting the operating hours of commercial activities to guarantee public peace; the pedestrian area from Saturday afternoon to Sunday evening on the Viale; the elimination of rubbish bins and the collection of waste at the door, to be kept inside commercial activities.
