Novara of Sicily. The report of the minority councilors in response to that of the Mayor

President, Councillors, Dear fellow villagers,

Going into the political merits of the behavior of the City Council, our opinion on the Mayor’s report in these two years is very negative. It is necessary to underline that, in two years of City Council, of the four designated councilors, only Councilor Giamboi attended some Council meetings. The other three councilors were never present, not even when it came to approving the budgets, i.e. the issues that most concern our Municipality.

Councilor Sofia, during the last rally, listed all the outstanding requests of the minority, the request for the reasons why all the councils were called in the morning and on weekdays, the lack of sending the council documents via certified e-mail, and etc.

Now, briefly, we will tell you what has happened to this country in recent years.

You will be the one to draw your own conclusions and form your own political opinion on this administration. And it will be you, therefore, who decides what needs to be done for the future of our country. We will review the facts concerning the economic and social life of this country. These are facts ascertained by numbers and official national statistics. These are not personal opinions.

In the last 12 years, the Municipality of Novara di Sicilia has lost approximately 250 inhabitants out of a total of 1,400, equal to 18% of the population. At this rate, with a decline of approximately 2% per year, in approximately 4-5 years, the Municipality of Novara di Sicilia will fall below the threshold of 1,000 inhabitants.

At that point, when the country has 1,000 inhabitants, some things will happen. The economic activities that have remained in the country so far will suffer and, if things do not change, they could close or move elsewhere. Less money will circulate because the country’s economy will have to give up the salaries, pensions and incomes of those who still live in the country. Faced with reduced well-being, many may choose to leave.

At that point, dear Councilors, it is probable (it has happened in other countries) that the population will suffer a sudden decline of more than 3.4% per year, with a large part of the active and working population, especially young people, abandoning which are the lifeblood and hope of survival of our beloved country.

Once the season of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan is over, from which we have not benefited significantly, economic activities will no longer have oxygen and the country will die.

How could all this happen? How is it possible that the country is heading towards death?

You see, dear Councilors, the causes are complex but at the same time simple. They are the result of political choices about which my friends and I were able to do very little.

I want to list the main causes of this country’s failure. Not of the Administrations, but of the Country.

Let’s start with our economy.

We have woods and forests, agricultural lands, farmhouses, nature trails, palaces, churches, gastronomic traditions, but also work skills and skills in agriculture, pastoralism and forestation, tourism and the tertiary sector. In short, a village that, even if not in good condition, could be saved, in our opinion. We have a still beautiful village, a village that could offer a residence to those who retire and need assistance, and also to young people looking for work (community homes or homes for the elderly).

All economic activities linked to these resources are in difficulty. But why does this happen? The answer is simple: in recent years nothing has been done to create, live and develop economic activities. What little has been done is a flame in the wind that risks going out. In fact, we have witnessed a contraction in the country’s incomes certified by ISTAT, the National Institute of Statistics. This contraction, in the last 12 years, has become frightening.

Do you know what that means? It means that this country will live above all on pensions and that, when our pensioners are no longer here, there will be less income in the country and fewer job opportunities.

But why is this happening? Over the years, no investments have been made to enhance the activities that work in the tourism, culture, agriculture, nature, socio-health and agroforestry sectors. We have lost job opportunities. You have approved budgets that are nothing short of disastrous, reflecting the inaction of the Municipality’s activity: zero expenses for services and investments, non-existent social funds, zero investments in businesses, culture and tourism. 400,000 euros for general secretarial services, without a clear explanation of why the organization’s few funds are concentrated in a single cauldron.

While other local authorities have received and are receiving many funds from the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, the Municipality of Novara di Sicilia has not received anything because it has done nothing. Among the few funds that have arrived, there are only the last ones that I have been able to work on. There is nothing in the municipal budget. We have lost a historic opportunity that Europe had given us and which will never arise again.

Europe remains distant because there is no long-term vision, we don’t know how to plan and we don’t know how to plan. We say this not only as Councillors, but also as a community. We also lost the Cohesion Structural Funds because there was no planning. You have closed the theater, closed cultural and recreational centers, closed museums and, for multiple reasons, we no longer have the few tourists we had. We have empty houses.

We need a recovery and resilience strategy which is currently lacking.

We need to work on enhancing our common assets and strengthening services for the elderly to create lasting jobs and attract young families with children who can work in a sector consistent with our quiet village.

We need to work on the transformation of sheep farming products and the few agricultural products with artisan workshops that produce quality products.

A work space is needed for those who work remotely and want an inexpensive home to move into, perhaps with their family (digital town hall).

We need a space for young people, a place where they can socialize, watch films, listen to music and test their skills, as well as train to create new businesses.

We need to reopen the theater and equip it with modern equipment to host theatrical productions and attend events thanks to new virtual technologies.

We need to become energy entrepreneurs, producing our own energy with alternative sources, so as to create new economies and finance new investments.

We need to attract young people with specific offers in new digital technologies. As you know, in the coming years, those who know how to govern these technologies will enter the world of work and will also be able to work remotely.

You need to equip a sports space with all the necessary equipment.

We need to qualify our accommodation offer with the regeneration of abandoned neighborhoods and, to do this, we need a plan and program of interventions supported by architects, economists, artists, designers and entrepreneurs in tourism, culture and nature.

Training and support are needed for the creation of business activities. This work, dear Councillors, should have been done before, in past years. It’s not late yet.

The Europe of Internal Areas exists. This Europe has the tools, the methods and the funds; it’s up to us to take them. If we continue to sit idle, thinking that the politics of personal favors can save us, we are greatly mistaken and our country will be lost forever.