On April 21, 2023, the municipal council issued an exploratory notice for expression of interest and proposals aimed at the construction and management of a shelter for dogs and cats with adjoining municipal health shelter. The co-financing project was supposed to be part of the PIAO 2023-2025, “Identification and contextual assignment of the executive objectives of general performance of the institution and organizational performance to be included in the drafting Integrated Plan of activities and organization“. Since then nothing more has been known about it, except that On May 31st of this year, the Municipality of Messina received the REVOCATION of the funds for the construction of the municipal shelter, and the RECOVERY of the advance paid equal to 10% of the total contribution.
In short another “success” of which the administration, and more specifically the Mayor and councilor Minutoli, do not report in the context of the self-celebration of their “successes”.
The Municipality learned of the lost funds and the request for reimbursement of the deposit with the note sent by the Ministry of the Interior, Department for Internal and Territorial Affairs, protocol number 0193550/2024 of 31 May last.
THE LOST CONTRIBUTION AND THE REASON FOR WITHDRAWAL
The Department responds to the note from the Municipality of Messina dated 10 May 2024. The Department of the Ministry of the Interior takes note of this note with which the Municipality, referring to the contribution of 1,004,551.33 euros “due to ministerial decrees” on 16 November 2021 and 30 May 2022, in May 2024 he exhibits that despite having identified an area on which it was possible to build the refuge, this area fell within the Messina area, “being the only one with F1c destination (social equipment and veterinary services)” being “privately owned” the administration communicates the necessity of “proceed with expropriation for public utility“.
According to the Basile administration and councilor Minutoli this would be the only possibility and the only solution for the use of the funds allocated by the contribution, also because, again, the municipal administration communicates to the Ministry Department, “a single economic operator who expressed interest in project financing did not subsequently send the requested documentationand therefore, the public finance project failingit is necessary to proceed with the planning of the intervention by assigning the design of the works to external professionals and for the subsequent assignment of the construction works“.
Following what has been stated, the administration BASILE with Councilor Minutoli ahead, in February 2024 he asks for an extension of maintaining the contribution another 36 months. Request that was not grantedand it is the Department for Internal and Territorial Affairs, with the note dated May 30th, which cclarifies the reason for the impossibility of acceptance and what, therefore, the Municipality of Messina is facing, that is, the REVOCATION of the contribution and the refund of the 10% deposit paid.
WITHDRAWAL OF THE CONTRIBUTION AND REFUND OF FUNDS
The Ministry writes “SI inform you that article 3 of the public notice for the submission of requests for contributions, published in the Official Journal of 24 May 2021 (date of the assignment of the contribution to the Municipality of Messina, ed.) establishes that ‘interventions to bring the shelters up to standard for dogs referred to in art. 1 paragraph 778, or for the construction of new shelters referred to in the following paragraph 779, must FINISH WITHIN 12 MONTHS from notification of the financing. Failure to carry out the interventions within the aforementioned deadline will result in the RETURN OF THE ASSIGNED RESOURCES or their RECOVERY“.
And that’s what happened. Thus the Department of the Ministry of the Interior, with the note we are writing about, that of 31 May this year, writes and confirms “In light of the above, considering that the deadlines set out in the notice in question have WIDELY EXPIRED, that the organization has not been able to IDENTIFY a suitable area or area free from restrictions to carry out the intervention and that the request to keep the sums at provision of the institution for further 36 MONTHS CANNOT BE ACCEPTEDwe inform you that this Management will proceed to evaluate the activation of the REVOCATION procedure of the contribution in question with consequent RECOVERY of the sums already paid equal to 10% of the total contribution“.
This concludes the “sad story” which did not allow, even this time, the creation of a kennel and shelter for dogs and cats in Messina. But our city also lacks adequate running areas for dogs: the existing ones, in Villa Dante (full of large dogs) and that of Villa Sabin (without areas sheltered from the sun) are inadequate and insufficient for a vast city like Messina. So, today’s news, stray cats abound and die from poisoning, run over, and the drama remains entirely in the hands of “the usual” heroes: the volunteers, God bless them.
