The delivery ceremony of Blue Flags has once again rewarded the Calabria, with the assignment of 20 “banners” in our region. “I want to offer my most sincere congratulations to the mayors of the municipalities who have been reconfirmed this year and a special applause for the mayor of the municipality of Parghelia who was awarded his first Blue Flag this year”.
An important recognition, the result of a lot of work from the point of view
urban planning, decoration, environmental awareness programs and much more. A possible result also thanks to the skills of technicians who worked side by side with the municipal administrations in a process that sometimes lasted years before reaching the much desired objective.
Thus the regional councilor Ernesto Alecci which adds: “but despite this splendid result for Calabria, from what has emerged to date, the Region Calabria, unlike what they have done in recent years, would seem not to having allocated funds for Blue Flag municipalities. Last year, like the previous ones, in this same period, the singles in fact, administrations already knew the amounts that would be transferred from the Region”.
“In a period that is certainly not prosperous for the coffers of municipal administrations, such as the current one, these economies are fundamental for the planning of the summer season, being used for the removal of architectural barriers, surveillance on the beaches with a greater number of lifeguards, rescue with rescue dogs, cleaning of beaches and seabeds, raising awareness in schools, protecting the environment. Interventions that certainly cannot be guaranteed without these funds”.
“Being able to count on extraordinary funds (we are talking about around €25/30 thousand each) can also be an additional incentive for municipalities that intend to begin the process of obtaining the banner”. According to the democratic councilor “all of this seems like a big deal contradiction, especially when compared to the many millions of euros spent on advertise Calabria in Italy and abroad”.
“We know well, in fact, that often the Blue Flag represents that guarantee certification that is decisive in the choice of the place to be visited by tourists, especially foreigners, for services and the quality of environmental parameters. Services and quality that if not guaranteed, they could generate a dangerous boomerang effect. I believe that the Blue Flags, as well as the “Green Spikes”, represent enormous potential for our region”.
“It would be hypocritical to continue to fill so many beautiful posters
advertising our airports in which the most beautiful places in the Region are represented (our coasts and our internal areas) if nothing is done to help them not only maintain but above all increase the level of services provided”.
“I hope that President Occhiuto, who continues to maintain the delegation
to tourism, after the electoral period that took him around stages and
rallies, can return to focusing on what our region needs most and
can remedy this paradoxical situation as soon as possible, so as to
allow the mayors to keep the name of Calabria high, trying, even if in
very serious delay, in rescheduling the summer season which has already begun”.
“Being in this situation on June 24th shows us that we are still in Calabria
the ability to listen and consult with the territories is totally lacking above all the ability to plan investments in time, especially in a sector, such as tourism, in which one cannot improvise and where unfortunately we have the impression that we continue to “navigate by sight”.
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