A crucial meeting was held at the Government Palace in Caserta, marking the beginning of a collaboration between the Sole Commissioner for the Land of fires, General Giuseppe Vadalà, and the mayors of the 34 Caserta municipalities involved in the perimeter of the Land of Fires.
The primary objective, as declared by the Prefecture of Caserta, is to start a joint action with local administrations to address the environmental emergency.
Request for data and information
Commissioner Vadalà urged municipalities to provide detailed data and information on landfills and contaminated sites, which are essential elements for planning cleanup operations. For the province of Caserta, five priority areas have been identified, for four of which the Campania Region is already working on the design.
Attendances and topics covered
The meeting was attended by the provincial heads of the police forces, the general director for the integrated water and waste cycle of the Campania Region, the president of the Province of Caserta, the mayor of Parete (in his capacity as President of the Area Authority for the integrated waste management service of Caserta), the general director of the ASL of Caserta, the firefighters, the person in charge of combating arson of waste in Campania and the Campania grouping of Safe Roads-Terra dei fuochi.
The role of the Sole Commissioner
Vadalà illustrated the contents of the recent decree-law on public administration, which gives him specific powers and tasks for remediation. The commissioner will be responsible for:
Analyze the current status of remediation interventions and initiatives.
Identify further medium-long term interventions, estimating the necessary resources.
Prepare a communication and information plan for citizens.
Mayors' proposals
During the meeting, the mayors put forward several proposals:
Construction of ecological islands and waste management plants.
Collaboration for the collection of special waste (textile waste, building materials, WEEE).
Amendments to the legislation for alternative municipal interventions in the removal of abandoned waste.
Collaboration with the Ecopneus and Polieco consortia, for the collection of materials, abandoned tires and waste of polyethylene goods for agricultural use.
Funding for local police
Prefect Volpe announced that, thanks to the Single Justice Fund (570 thousand euros for the province of Caserta), municipal projects will be financed for the temporary hiring of local police personnel, overtime work and the purchase of camera traps and video surveillance tools.
The prefect invited the municipalities to adhere to the ministerial call, presenting projects that will have to be approved by the provincial committee for public order and safety.
Article published on March 27, 2025 - 20pm
The Caserta meeting is very important for all municipalities, but more communication between the parties involved is also needed. We hope that the requested data will be provided quickly to begin the cleanup.
I agree with Mrs. Rizzo, but I think we also need more transparency on projects and funding. Citizens need to know how the money will be used and what the priorities are.