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Another concrete step towards the clearing and urban redevelopment of the city of Messina. The official delivery of housing to 14 Messina families is underway right now.
The ceremony is taking place in the setting of the Flag Hall of Palazzo Zanca. The families benefiting from the new apartments come from the now former redevelopment area “C” of via Letterio La Rocca (Area 33), a crucial piece in the plan to eliminate the slums that have marked the city area for decades.
«There are hundreds of families – he added – who from 2022 to today, that is, since I held the role of commissioner for the redevelopment of Messina, have left the shacks in which they lived to move into real homes. A result of which I am very proud because we are carrying out an important project for the restoration of the territories and respect for legality.”
Thus the president of the Sicilian Region and extraordinary commissioner for the rehabilitation of the slums of Messina Renato Schifani during the delivery ceremony at Palazzo Zanca, headquarters of the Municipality, of the keys to the new housing to 14 families from the shacks in via La Rocca (Camaro). Present were the mayor of Messina Federico Basile, the regional councilor for Tourism Elvira Amata, the sub-commissioner Santi Trovato and the sole director of ArisMe Fabrizio Gemelli.
A turning point for the 14 families who, from this afternoon, finally see the right to a dignified home guaranteed, leaving behind them the years of housing hardship.
Schifani: “It is the right and correct project for rehabilitation and restoration of legality”
“It is the right and correct rehabilitation project, to restore legality – underlined the president of the Sicilian Region, Renato Schifani – in the field of many families living in an emergency situation. The project continues, we are working to guarantee citizens the decency of their quality of life. A primary good that we intend to protect to the maximum”.
Mrs. Anna Adele Innocca: “I’m excited, I thought about my husband who is no longer here”
The young Sharon Tortorella: “I feel joy, but also the pain of leaving the house where I was born and raised”
The young Sharon Tortorella: «I feel joy, but at the same time also painful, leaving… let’s say the house where I was born and grew up. And then, maybe, seeing it… rubble, it’s bad.”
But you carry many dreams with you. What is the best and most important thing you would like to happen now?
«…My family, being at home with my whole family».
With these assignments, the number of families who were able to leave the barracks rises to 393.
«With the sub-commissioner, the engineer Santi Trovato – continues Schifani -, we are working concretely to guarantee the citizens of Messina who were still living in a state of emergency a greater quality of life. The house is an indispensable primary asset that we intend to protect as much as possible. This is a sign of the closeness and commitment of the institutions.”
Today’s delivery represents the final act of a process started in recent months with the publication of the definitive ranking of those entitled, the technical checks and inspections of the accommodation by the families assigned.
Part of the shacks to be demolished had been built above the road axis, thus preventing normal transit: the demolition will lead to the restoration of correct traffic.
The entire Via La Rocca has an area of 4,100 square meters: one part, where 37 families lived, had already been liberated and the shacks demolished between the end of 2024 and 2025. After the demolitions and reclamation, it was handed over on 4 September 2025 to the Municipality which is building a large urban park under the old railway bridge.
The resources for the demolition of the barracks and the construction of the new accommodation come from a special fund for the rehabilitation of Messina which, when it was established in 2021 by the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, amounted to 100 million euros. From 2022 to June 15, 2026, more than 56 million were spent.