“On Thursday 23 May in Naples, in front of the headquarters of the Campania region, the demonstration was held Campania Coordination for Public Water (representing the provinces of Avellino, Benevento, Caserta, Naples and Salerno). A delegation – writes the Coordination – met with the environmental councilor Bonavitacola to reaffirm its full willingness to collaborate with the Region, for a totally public management of large-scale water distribution.
Bonavitacola reiterated, however, the desire of the De Luca administration to privatize the management of the large regional supply, with a joint company, which will manage the water networks and allow private individuals enormous profits on the wholesale sale of water. This means opening the doors of Campania, the richest region in water resources in the South, to multinationals. The Regional Council first and subsequently the Regional Council will decide in this sense.
Both Italgas, a multinational listed on the stock exchange, and Acea, owned by the multinational Suez, are interested in entering the large regional supply of networks. Italgas has already entered into “Acqua Campania spa”, paying tens of millions, despite the concession having expired in November 2023, with the clear intention of managing large-scale water distribution in Campania. Acea, already present in Gori and Gesesa, aims to manage the Campolattaro reservoir. The very precious sources of Cassano Irpino will also enter into the deal, which will be removed from public management. Italgas and Acea are also looking at the management of large reservoirs, entrusted to “Acque del Sud Spa”. We are faced with a neocolonial privatization of Southern Italy’s water by multinationals, which will produce enormous profits, representing the most blatant betrayal of the popular will expressed in the 2011 referendum.
The Meloni government implemented this plan by transforming the “Acque del Sud” company from totally public to mixed public-private, with 65% of the shares going to the Ministries, 30% to private individuals and a paltry and irrelevant 5% to the regions of Southern Italy (just as the Northern regions are instead asking for full administrative autonomy with the infamous differentiated autonomy law proposal). Only a totally public company in Campania can stop this government plan.
Both the Campania and Puglia regional administrations have guiltily remained silent, suffering a notable defeat from the Meloni government’s initiative. Last but not least, the attempt to include in the recent law decree 63 the possibility for Acque del Sud to “take over the state or regional concession provisions”.
The regional coordination reiterated its clear opposition to the choices of the De Luca administration and the greater determination in its action to fight for the totally public management of the districts, of the Great Adduction and of “Acque del Sud”. We reminded the councilor of the effects of the regional budget which sanctioned the separation of the Naples district with the 31 municipalities of the Northern area now abandoned to their fate. The Campania Region pretends to dialogue with citizens, while in reality it has gagged the committees with the shameful cancellation of the art. 20 of law 15/2015, which legitimized the participation of citizens in the decision-making processes of the Campania water authority.
At the end of the meeting, Father Alex Zanotelli said these words verbatim to councilor Buonavitacola: “Given the advancement of climate change and the scarcity of rain, selling water to private individuals is an irresponsible choice of politics that will be cursed by future generations ”.
