Floods and the Sarno River: the five candidates for the office of mayor of the municipality of Scafati they discuss the topic in a meeting organized by the 'Comitato Rio Sguazzatorio'. The moderator Carmine Ferrara he asked the five aspiring mayors the same question, asking how they would address the problem of flooding and pollution of the Sarno River and what has been done during their term (a question addressed to those who have already held office).
The draw decreed that the first to answer the question was Corrado Scarlato, a candidate supported by six civic lists, who – as he later explained in a social post – promises to create a permanent task force to be deployed in the event of flooding and relief Tari (waste tax) to traders and citizens. As for solving the problem at source, Scarlato claims he is ready to build barricades and bring the issue to the national stage.
Instead, the second mayoral candidate to answer the question revealed part of his electoral program on the issue: Michael Grimaldi. The aspiring mayor running with Pd, M5S, Verdi and a civic list, has in fact dedicated a good part of his political agenda to the issues of the environment and the Sarno River: environmental education in schools and for businesses, monitoring of pollution but also a supra-municipal project creating a strong alliance with others municipalities of the basin to create prevention, remediation and management actions for riverbeds and water flows.
Grimaldi's Green intervention plan will have to be coordinated with existing bodies in order to provide unequivocal and decisive answers to the Sarno problem, dealing with emergencies by strengthening civil protection. In addition, Grimaldi proposes an ad hoc municipal office dedicated to the Sarno river, a department for ecological transition and constant monitoring of the actions to be implemented to resolve the pollution and flooding problem.
For Grimaldi, the reduction of pollution in the river will allow the creation of a conservation and monitoring plan for river biodiversity, promoting the protection of flora and fauna typical of the Sarno river basin.
The third candidate Cristoforo Salvati, supported by Fdi and three centre-right civic groups, listed the actions implemented during his term, which ended before the deadline for the resignation of the majority of councillors. Salvati explained that his main activity was to prod the competent bodies to carry out dredging and cleaning of the drains to avoid flooding in the event of heavy rains.
He explained what has been done in four years in which he had to record continuous flooding of a large part of the city, without explaining what the solutions for the future might be.
The Orange Francesco Carotenuto, the fourth aspiring mayor, representing three civic groups, has reeled off his love for the city and the proposal to establish civil protection. Carotenuto has argued that those who pollute are criminals who must be fought at every level.
The last to speak was Pasquale Aliberti, supported by Forza Italia, Lega and five civic groups. The former mayor who returns to office after the dissolution of his administration due to Camorra infiltration, an arrest and a pending trial for political-mafia electoral exchange from which he is defending himself has returned to his administration.
He did it to remember his work at the time when he was commissioner for the reclamation of the Sarno Basin, the General Roberto Jucci, the man delegated by the Government to implement the old purification plan of the basin and to combat industrial waste and pollution. Aliberti underlined that the pollution of the Sarno is not only attributable to companies but also to domestic waste and it is a question that does not only concern the city of Scafati. He attributed the responsibility to Region and to Gori (the company that manages the water network) and instead claimed to be the architect of the works for the sewer network as if those works were a public work of the Municipality. Which is not the case.
The five candidates had to present their thesis in a maximum of 10 minutes and without the audience being able to applaud or make comments. But not everyone followed the rules. Aliberti was unable to contain the enthusiasm of his supporters at the end of his speech, which exceeded the allotted time.
The debate did not touch on other programmatic issues of the candidates, but it put the aspiring mayors together in the same room for the first time in this election campaign. At least for once before the elections that will be held on May 14 and 15.
Article published on May 9, 2023 - 19:15 pm
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