The English poet John Donne used to say that no human being is an island. But if we continue at this rate, the islands will be left without humanity: “If the right-wing policies of the government, in Veneto and in the Municipality of Venice continue to take away essential services – comments Erika Baldin, group leader of the 5 Star Movement in the Regional Council – then those who live on the beautiful islands of the lagoon will have no choice but to move. You cannot stay where there are no more schools, doctors, efficient transport, where the banks collapse, where the mayor explicitly gives precedence to the mainland. But historic Venice, the islands and the lagoon are UNESCO heritage and deserve much more, they deserve to continue to be populated, living contexts, capable of giving certainties to those who were born there or choose to live there”.
The councilor is concerned about recent news events: “At Lido, the tenacious protest of parents to have a night pediatric service and an emergency room – continues Baldin – brought hundreds of people to the square on Sunday and to sign some petitions to this effect. Murano risks having a similar problem, where the only pediatrician is under eviction and is asking the institutions for a building where he can work, as I also asked in my question to the Zaia council. On the same island, moreover, the wave motion is causing the foundations to collapse, as in San Giacomo in Paludo, while the low birth rate in Burano and Sant’Erasmo has led to cuts and mergers in the schools. And I could go on”.
Last but not least, the issue of transport: “Line 8 no longer passes through Giudecca – the M5S representative points out – and my requests for ACTV to restore bathrooms on long-distance vaporetti have remained silent. Abroad, there is a race to say that the proclaimed sustainability model to follow is precisely that of the lagoon islands, in terms of life times, smart working methods, possible connections and the search for slow tourism. The administration managers, on the other hand, make it increasingly clear that they don’t care about these settlements, perhaps because they are unproductive according to their vision of things. Inhabiting these spaces, on the other hand, must return to being a peculiar, extraordinary aspect, of which we can be proud”.
A little over a year after the administrative vote, the Brugnaro era is about to end: “Ingloriously, I would say – concludes Erika Baldin – given that even the recent electoral results nail the metropolitan mayor to negligible percentages in the same center-right. Not only in insular Venice, but also in the neighborhoods of the mainland, the fuchsias no longer hold up: a sign that the marginalization of the lagoon specificity does not correspond at all, in reality, to the exaltation of life in Mestre and Marghera, where security is perceived at an all-time low, acts of violence are the order of the day, thousands of people look for a home without managing to obtain one from the public hand.
This being the case, it is understandable how even right-wing strongholds (some islands in particular) are turning their backs on the leader of Coraggio Italia, practically an eviction notice. The opposition and progressive forces have obtained an absolute majority of votes with over 57%: it is up to them now to organize themselves and constitute a credible alternative to gain the trust of those who have lost it, on both sides of the bridge. Starting from a common program and a candidate who is up to the challenge».
: «The islands of the lagoon are deprived of essential services every day.»){kind=link}