Carfagna and the relaunch of the suburbs: “Pnrr unrepeatable opportunity to start redevelopment”
Caivano, a northern area of Naples, sadly hit the headlines after the violence suffered by two girls aged 11 and 12 by a group of their peers in the Parco Verde. The South, with all its strengths and weaknesses, has once again caused discussion. Critical issues that everyone knows but that few have managed to resolve. Il Tempo interviewed the president of Azione Mara Carfagna, former minister for the South, to find out her opinion on the matter.
Honorable Carfagna, you are a woman from the South and you were also minister for the South. In your opinion, why do we cyclically return to discussing the critical issues of some areas without ever managing to really have an impact?
«Because for decades there have been neither the resources nor the political will to address the issue of inequality in access to constitutional rights to security, work and education. The Pnrr is an unrepeatable opportunity to start the redevelopment of the many suburbs of Italy and I hope that the much announced remodulation of the Pnrr does not cancel interventions but adds them”.
In the South, school dropout is 15.1% while in the North it is 11.5%. Why do you think this gap still exists?
«On the one hand there is the lack of full time, canteens, gyms, school transport, support for the most vulnerable. On the other hand, family poverty acts, which increases child labor and distances people from educational paths.”
In the aftermath of the violence in Caivano and Palermo, many have targeted young people and the role of social media, what is your opinion on this matter?
«I am convinced that social media should be banned for children under 13 years of age and open to children between 13 and 15 only with the consent of their parents. With Action we have presented a very effective bill, modeled on a law approved in France. I read that the government agrees: act accordingly, we will support you.”
He shares the work of President Meloni who presented two types of interventions: one from a work perspective, offering employment opportunities to young people, and one from a cultural profile with Agenda Sud and the allocation of Minister Sangiuliano which made 12 million available euros in three years for a library, a multimedia and reading room that can be placed inside the Delphinia center so that it becomes a multifunctional centre?
«For goodness sake, everything can be shared, everything is important. But first of all, the projects already launched and financed by the Draghi government, upon my input, precisely for that area should be grounded. I’m talking about the video surveillance system for Caivano, over a million euros already available; of social cohesion interventions, the Urban Regeneration Factory, the recovery and relaunch of the Caivano Arte Theatre, another 3.6 billion placed on already defined programs; the hiring of 8 social workers made possible by the Lep social workers; of the new places in nursery schools on which we have invested approximately 5 million until 2027 and of the over one hundred thousand euros intended to finance the school transport service for pupils with disabilities. Meloni should ask his ministers to account for these interventions: it seems to me that they are at a standstill, I hope I’m wrong.”
Every educational intervention requires a long time, what could be done immediately?
«The interventions I have listed are “immediate” because they have already been designed, approved and financed in agreement with the territory. Plus there is the CIS Terra dei Fuochi, a 200 million euro plan to change the fate of the tormented area which also includes Caivano: I signed it in 2022 with 52 mayors of the area. It must be put on the ground. The State, not the Draghi government, has made a strong commitment. Now it is necessary to demonstrate that the State respects its promises regardless of who governs.”
This article is originally published on iltempo.it
