Migrants, the plan for Lampedusa

A plan to quickly empty the Lampedusa hotspot with the dispatch of five ships and the economic and fiscal aid insurance for the Lampedusans. These are the solutions put on the table by the Conte government after an encounter at times with tense nerves.

The summit at Palazzo Chigi between President Giuseppe Conte and a broad representation of ministers on the one hand and Governor Nello Musumeci and Lampedusa Mayor Salvatore Martello on the other began with some scathing phrases: “Enough of the slogans, we are aware of the difficulties – says Conte – that he is living and the need to study together the most effective solutions to face these difficulties. But we also know that the phenomenon has always been complex and the slogans are not enough to tackle it, but initiatives are necessary at various levels and well synergistic and well coordinated interventions ”.

Conte immediately blocks the claims of Governor Musumeci, who asked to close all hotspots in Sicily. However, first of all, the Conte government has pledged to empty the Lampedusa hotspot by tomorrow by sending five ships, two of which are already on the way. “The government has assured us that the center will indeed be closed because the new arrivals will be immediately housed in quarantine ships,” Mayor Martello said as he left the meeting.

Then President Conte spoke about economic aid: “Lampedusa, in particular, deserves favorable economic measures, with special attention to the suspension of obligations and payments, including arrears – he says – economic suffering, and not only, it deserves a strong response from the State. “. Today the Council of Ministers will approve a decree suspending all tax payments until December 2021 for the residents of Lampedusa.

For the rest, the Conte government is not open to the provisions of the Musumeci order later challenged by Palazzo Chigi. Translated, there will be no closure of other critical points and reception centers because, according to the government, “there is no ongoing health emergency.” It is no coincidence that Musumeci, already controversial when entering (“I do not expect anything,” he said), expressed his disappointment when leaving: “There continue to be differences of opinion with the government, which has proposed some initiatives but not linked to a calendar and outside precise deadlines.

Sicilians live a daily ordeal and fear the spread of the virus. Are you helping Lampedusa? We will see if it is about concrete things or fresh water. And then he added: “We are not absolutely satisfied because no concrete answers have come. We take note of the goodwill expressed by the government but all the roads in the world are paved with goodwill.
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