It would be enough to scroll a bit of news in the newspapers, and read what is happening around Agrigento (the Capital of Culture 2025), to realize that the story of the vote, of the European elections, of a Sicily closer to Brussels, was all fluff. All. In Luigi Pirandello’s city the drought is not only for animals and crops, but also for humans. The taps are dry and the water arrives every 8 or 10 days from reservoirs that are now dried up (and which are only working at 50 percent capacity, due to the high presence of debris). The tankers supply the bed & breakfasts up and down the city, cancellations pour in and tourists flee. They had come to explore the beautiful Valley of the Temples, but they think they remained at the time of the Greeks.
There isn’t any around here a single declaration of principle that has been translated into action: “We asked Siciliacque to increase the supply for Agrigento – the mayor of the city of temples, Franco Miccichè, told Repubblica – the water belongs to the Region and not to the Municipality, the immediate solution would be the watermaker. I’m trying to press. In Porto Empedocle the structure is there, the pipes exist, we need to install a new watermaker.” Remember the watermakers? They ended up at the center of the Cohesion Agreement between Schifani and Meloni, signed at the Teatro Massimo in Palermo a few weeks ago. The package to combat the drought that has dried up reservoirs and hopes is worth 90 million. How long does it take to release the money? Last May 17, the Region had allocated 3 million for “the financing of projects for the search for new water sources, for the evaluation of the possibility of reactivating some desalination plants and for the construction of water pipelines to alleviate the crisis conditions of some areas of the island”.
Only last Tuesday, after the electoral hangover, the Region communicated the green light from Palazzo Chigi to the disbursement of the first twenty million to combat the water emergency. It is the money promised by the Minister of Civil Protection, Nello Musumeci, at the same time as the declaration of the national state of emergency, loudly requested by Schifani and by the control room – a coordination of very illustrious experts – established for this purpose: interventions had been indicated , in the short and long term, for over 700 million, and only 20 will arrive. The trend is to take time: “The offices – guaranteed the governor – will take action to urge the network managers and the Municipalities in preparing the projects and the start of works, which in some cases have already started. At the same time, we are starting to work on a second intervention plan which will be financed with another twenty million. However – he added – the Region has also done and will do its part. We have already allocated twenty million euros for the purchase of fodder for animals and for drinking water, and we will allocate the same amount for imminent financial measures that the government will implement in the coming days”.
Be careful, though. Why here we are facing another fool. Not even the money allocated for the purchase of fodder (10 million), in reality, is real money. Because it should have been the Ars Productive Activities Commission that gave the green light to the department’s decree, which – however – “missed” a round last Thursday. As summarized by Luigi Sunseri, regional deputy of the 5 Star Movement, “we were unable to vote because there was no quorum. At the meeting of the president Gaspare Vitrano (Fi), in addition to me, only the deputies Dario Safina (Pd), Alessandro De Leo (Misto) and Giuseppe Catania (FdI) showed up. Absent for the centre-right are Michele Mancuso (Fi), Giorgio Assenza (Fdl), Giuseppe Castiglione (Autonomists), Vincenzo Figuccia (Lega), Riccardo Gallo (Fi) and Salvatore Giuffrida (Dc). Commission postponed until next week.” It would take twenty-four hours to release the money, as admitted by the director of the Agriculture Department, Dario Cartabellotta. But apparently there is no rush.
Coldiretti stigmatized “an absolutely unacceptable behavior of politicians who evidently consider agriculture to be no longer an interesting topic after the elections. We are witnessing an unseemly spectacle – underlines the organization – given that they have been waiting for days for the technical details that could bring relief to farmers. Instead, indifference towards one of Sicily’s vital sectors continues to be governed.” After the election campaign and the opening of the polls, it was a week of adjustment. Which for some has not yet ended: many parties are completing the round of celebrations, others are sharpening their weapons to battle it out during the reshuffle, others still have yet to decide who to send to Brussels. Furthermore, next Sunday we will return to the polls for some run-offs (such as in Gela and Caltanissetta). There is no doubt that the drought is pressing, but politics is busy at the top.
Tomorrow, for example, Renato Schifani he convened the council to conclude the delivery of the general directors of health, who should sign the contract in Palermo by the 20th (the appointment of health and administrative directors will follow). A step forward which, however, will leave the people of Agrigento indifferent: “The summer season is upon us and we are worried, no one so far has given us alternative solutions to the tankers which, among other things, are the responsibility of the entrepreneur – one of them tells Repubblica -. We have gone back 40 years, this risks destroying the only resource we have: tourism.” If previously tourists fled due to fires, now there is a risk of adding the problem of water rationing.
In the Cohesion Agreement for the use of FSC funds, 138 interventions are planned to promote the water supply of the territories: the construction of new wells, the revamping and restoration of existing wells, the construction of bypasses and connecting pipelines, the strengthening of lifting systems and pumping, carried out by the area companies and some municipalities. Furthermore, just over two million euros, co-financed by the State (37.5%) and the Region (62.5%), were allocated to the purchase of eight new tankers and the repair of another 78 from Municipalities and Cities metropolitan. It seems like a dream book, which has little relevance to current problems. He flies over them. Although Schifani reassures: “The regional government is aware of the water emergency situation that Sicily is going through, due to the climatic conditions and the lack of planning in recent years, and for this reason we are on the alert every day. We are confident in the rapid implementation of interventions that can mitigate the drought.” It is on the concept of “speed” that something does not add up.
