Bad weather, Meloni: “100 million initial allocation, sorry for controversy”

Milan, Jan. 28 (LaPresse) – “We accompanied the declaration of a state of emergency with an initial allocation of €100 million, for which I am somewhat disappointed by the controversy, especially here in Sicily, because in the meetings we held even before the Council of Ministers with the presidents of the regions involved, we made it very clear that this was a very initial emergency allocation to provide immediate, one-off assistance to the citizens and businesses affected, to allow us to suspend mortgages and to give mayors and local authorities the initial resources they needed. No one thinks that this issue can be seriously addressed with €100 million for three regions. But I have made this very clear.” This was stated by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni during a meeting on the bad weather emergency during her visit to Sicily. “This morning, I wanted to make a reconnaissance tour, mainly by helicopter, of the areas affected by the floods in recent days, after which I would like to take stock of the situation with you, with the president, with Minister Musumeci, with the mayors and prefects of the most affected areas. Within two or three days, we declared a state of emergency after holding a meeting with the presidents of the three regions involved. We then declared a state of emergency and appointed the presidents of the regions involved as emergency commissioners. Clearly, this also means that these commissioners are already partly in place and will be put in a position to operate with the tools and resources, and therefore with the means necessary to respond to the needs coming from the territories,” he added.