Important morning atAvellino bus station. The president of the Campania Region Vincenzo De Luca has returned to via Fariello for the delivery of one hundred new buses which will increase the vehicle fleet of AIR Campania and for the inauguration of the Aci Avellino offices. Together with the governor, the president of the Regional Transport Commission, Luca Cascone, the general director of ACaMIR, Maria Teresa Di Mattia, and the manager of AIR Campania Anthony Acconcia.
Block of Development and Cohesion Funds, De Luca: “We hope that the Government respects the Council of State’s deadline for signing the agreement”
“The 100 buses presented this morning are part of a package of 1,600 new vehicles that the Region has purchased and is delivering year after year to companies to improve local public transport” explained the number one at Palazzo Santa Lucia, who underlined the Region’s protest over the assignment of Development and Cohesion Funds thundering once again against the Meloni Government. “Some of the buses we presented today were purchased with the cohesion funds of the 2014-2020 program. A battle has been underway for a year against the political blackmail of the Meloni Government to unlock the new funds. We hope that by this month the Government decides to adopt an attitude of seriousness and institutional rigor. It is the money of the Region and not of the Italian State. Minister Fitto said that the problems are not the times We have been informed that a year of lost time means that the cost of the works increases by 1/3. They think of blackmailing us but Campania will never suffer blackmail. We wait for them to decide, at least respecting the TAR and the Council of State which it has given as a deadline final on June 28th to sign the cohesion agreement. But in Italy we have reached the point that we don’t care about the TAR, the Judiciary, legality and institutional correctness. They have a different idea of democracy”.
“On 16 February, when we went to demonstrate in Rome, we were 550 mayors and thousands of people against differentiated autonomy and for the release of cohesion funds – continued De Luca – that was the first evidence of squad-based attitudes: they they blocked the mayors’ buses at the motorway exit and searched them, as if they were terrorists, to prevent them from arriving at the demonstration. The police were in full battle gear to block the entrance to Via del Corso and they closed the doors of the ministries. A shame never seen in a democratic Italy. Then we understood what type of Government we were facing. Then came the beatings of the students in Pisa and the attack on the 5 Star parliamentarian who was carrying the tricolor flag to the meeting. Minister Calderoli. It is good to remember that we are fighting for our dignity, to protect that of democratic institutions and for the development of our territory”.
Internal areas: “From the Region, political, programmatic and financial attention never seen before”
The president of the Campania Region took today’s opportunity to take stock of the situation on the projects implemented for the development of the internal areas, in particular of Irpinia, in the field of healthcare, transport and infrastructure: “In Ariano Irpino we inaugurated a splendid and renovated hospital on the initiative of the Avellino Local Health Authority: a very important investment. In a few weeks we will inaugurate the entire Solofra hospital. How many imbeciles we had to endure months ago over an alleged closure when we were renovating with an investment of over 15 million of euros. Considerable investments have also been made for Moscati which currently has primary schools and departments of excellence at a national level with regards to oncology and medically assisted procreation political, programmatic and financial attention to the internal areas that had never been seen before. The Avellino bus station is one of the most important projects we have carried out, the most beautiful in all of Campania, created thanks to the Region’s decision to allocate resources and the work of AIR Campania”.
“Until eight years ago – he continued – we traveled on trains that were cattle wagons and on buses that were more stationary than moving. Today, however, we can travel on beautiful buses which, among other things, give a boost to local industries , starting with the IIA, which is experiencing a difficult situation and which we are trying to relaunch. We have the most important investment plan in local public transport, together with the Lombardy Region. Let’s remember, these things are the result of extraordinary work and commitment of those who have decided to make our region a cutting-edge region, with balanced development across the entire regional territory”.
“A job for almost 1000 young people, hired through competitions and without clientelistic favoritism. Another revolution in Campania”
Not only the redevelopment of road transport, De Luca also underlines the commitment made for rail transport and the positive effects that the economic resources distributed in the various sectors of territorial development have determined at an employment level with the hiring, through tenders public, new staff: “We will have hundreds of new trains. Already today, the trains that travel under the agreement with the State Railways are beautiful. We are truly doing an enormous job. With competitive procedures we have hired almost a thousand young people, both direct and from companies absorbed, without clientelistic favoritism. Those who won the competitions went to work. This is another revolution that we have made in Campania”.
Eleven vehicles were presented this morning at the Via Fariello bus station: 4 diesel Ayats Horizon double-deckers from Officine Di Maio, 4 methane (CNG) Indcar MOBI on a 7-metre Iveco base and 3 Vivacity, 8 meters diesel-powered, from IIA . The new buses combine efficiency, safety, comfort, accessibility and sustainability. They are equipped with video surveillance and infomobility systems, passenger counting and digital systems for validating tickets.
In the last three years, ACaMIR has delivered 379 new vehicles to AIR Campania thanks to the corporate fleet rejuvenation plan desired by the Campania Region. This has allowed the TPL company to start decommissioning buses with over 15 years of service and renew 50% of the vehicle fleet, which currently numbers 774 vehicles. Currently, the average age of AIR Campania buses is 9.4 years, lower than the national average of 9.7 years (data from the Asstra study centre).
During President De Luca’s visit, the new offices of the Automobile Club of Italy and the Automobile Club Avellino were inaugurated at the Avellino bus station, in the presence of the ACI general secretary, Gerardo Capozzaand the president of the Automobile Club Avellino, Stefano Lombardi. Furthermore, the memorandum of understanding between AIR Campania and the Local Health Authority of Avellino, represented by the general director, was made official Mario Ferrantefor the transfer of the Territorial Pharmacy Service to the premises in via Fariello.
Inside the bus station, the Airone shopping mall, currently home to management offices, catering businesses, bars, tobacconists, a parapharmacy and a Mondadori bookshop, will host a gym in the coming months. The agreement for the transfer of the offices of the Order of Accountants of Avellino is also being finalized.
«Thanks to the investments of the Campania Region, we have taken a significant step forward, guaranteeing citizens efficient and quality services – said Anthony Acconcia, administrator of AIR Campania – the approval of the budget, with 840 thousand euros of profit, and the awarding of Lots 2 and 3 of the European tender for the assignment of minimum TPL services in Avellino, Benevento and Caserta, strengthen our position as a regional player in road transport. Now we must look to the future and continue working to maintain high quality standards and meet the mobility needs of the region.”
“The next step is the digital transition: work has begun in Avellino and Caserta for the installation of intelligent poles. We are ready to also lead this change, which, thanks to the Intelligent Transport System project of Campania, strongly supported by President De Luca , will revolutionize mobility, allowing users to obtain real-time information on travel times and possible delays” he concluded.
During today’s meeting, AIR Campania recalled its commitment to social issues. During the event, administrator Anthony Acconcia presented a check for 17,955 euros to the president Anna Maria Ziccardi and to the director Flavia Matrisciano, destined for the Santobono Pausilipon Foundation. Furthermore, the public transport company has obtained the prestigious gender equality certification, demonstrating its continuous and concrete commitment to promoting equality and inclusiveness.
