The general director of the Municipality, Salvo Puccio, explains the strategy: “The criticism of Amam? We forgot that it was bankrupt and that we restored it”
MESSINA – Water crisis and drought. Face to face with Except Puccio, general director of the Municipality of Messina and former president and general director of Amam. For the manager (in the photo with the mayor Basile), with new wells and an agreement to use the part where there is more water of the Fiumefreddo aqueduct, thanks to the regional authorization, “it is possible to buffer the terrible crisis that the Sicily”.
Doctor Puccio, the musical fountain of Villa Dante was liked but it was considered a waste of water in times of drought emergency…
“All artistic fountains work with recirculation. Don’t throw away the water. It is recycled. A small percentage, 3 percent per day, evaporates and within a month you put in an extra liter. The problem may concern the green area (and was detected for the “Aldo Moro” park, ed.) but not in Villa Dante, which has a well that has always been used for irrigation. It is not for drinking use. In general it is a fresh and unique place that has been missing in Messina for many years.”
Director General, the concern about the drought is great…
“All the Sicilian chronicles confirm it. The Sicilian Region has requested a European state of emergency. As Dario Cartabellotta, general manager of the regional Agriculture Department, observed, this is an unprecedented emergency. Precipitation forecasts indicate a dramatic situation. And I’m not talking about Messina…”.
In what sense?
“We in Messina worked well and perhaps we can make a stop. The problem affects Sicily. In a study on desertification I read that the entire band from Albania to Morocco had, this winter, and will have until October, the same rainfall as the sub-Saharan (sub-Saharan Africa, ed.) . But not with the consumption of that area. For example, Sicily has a production cycle of a medium tropical country. We live on agriculture and we have tourism, now put to the test by a drastic situation.”
And can Messina resist, given its daily problems of water shortage?
“Maybe we can save ourselves, I repeat, with all the interventions we have made, with everything we have put in place”.
Are the shortages in some areas of Messina, in this period, linked to the drought phenomenon?
“The contingent facts of a small daily fault in an area have nothing to do with the drought”.
However, the shortcomings concern several areas. There is much criticism of Amam from political forces and citizens…
“We often forget the starting point. Amam, upon the advent of Cateno De Luca, in 2018, was taken with 52 million euros of foreclosures, I, as the new president of Amam. I found two executive foreclosure decrees, one from Enel and one from Eracom, for a total of 52 million. They seized the sums and blocked the current accounts. Let’s remember where we started from. Instead of finding new sources or contracting to reduce losses, the company then bought water from Siciliaque and he also paid it to the Bufardo consortium of Fiumefreddo. The more that was lost, the more water there was. With that money, he was unable to pay the electricity suppliers. Hence the foreclosures and not even the salaries could be paid.”
Let’s remember what happened…
“We made transactions for 52 million. We returned to Consip, the national purchasing centre, because we were safeguarded. We paid 25 percent more for electricity. With that money we paid for transactions and tried to make investments. We have created a project park. But when there are critical issues of this kind, such as the drought emergency, we cannot be ready already. The structural interventions have yet to be completed. The service is still poor, waiting for the outcome of the interventions, but paying half. Before, we went into debt to pay for water. We are working to reduce losses and improve service. But this is the starting photo of the old Amam. When you find your current account under 52 million euros, and on the 27th you have to pay your salaries, how do you do it?”.
In your opinion, is the situation of the past not remembered enough?
“Amam was more bankrupt than ATM. Except it didn’t show up. Then we did the live broadcast with De Luca because they had to release the funds for us, having signed the transactions. Today Amam is able to prepare projects. We have obtained the funding and are doing the work. But the works are not compatible with the climate, when there are seasons of this type with 86 millimeters of rain in five months. A tragic event. If the company had not been reorganized, we would be in a desperate situation today. Give the same service as 10 or 15 years ago but without spending that money. And in the meantime you make investments. Today Amam has hired, reorganized and has a positive balance sheet.”
How can the current problem be addressed?
“We know how to do it. We have Fiumefredo and we can modulate it, if the Sicilian Region and the commissioner for the drought emergency help us. In an area, which is not Messina, there is a private individual, Bufardo, equipped with irrigation, to whom you can give money to buy water elsewhere and we would always use the water we are entitled to. Furthermore, we are about to use the Briga wells and are checking the drinkability of other wells. We need to connect the new wells we’ve found and we will. Those in Brig are ready: the analysis for the connection is being carried out. Brig will help the area of Bordonaro, the center and Montesanto. And we will put other wells online. We must have authorization from the commissioner to modulate the flow rates to Fiumefreddo”.
What does it mean?
“The Fiumefreddo aqueduct has two collection points. One is called Bufardo and one Torregrossa. In one there is less water, due to the drought, and in the other the same water as before. Taking the total amount of water we are entitled to, we want to take it from the part where there is more. A consortium is also supplied from the latter but, given that it is an emergency, the need for drinking water supplies prevails. The law is on our side and, having made the pumps more efficient, we can take more. The Region or the commissioner must authorize us. We are confident.”
