There are many redemption projects and involve a massive investment of resources. They spark hopes of a turning point, they chase the dream of a “normality” capable of erasing degradation. But then once the slides and project reconstructions are closed we return to reality. And today at Arghillà the reality is that of waste still burned in the streets, of open-air landfills that have made this panoramic terrace overlooking the Strait the symbol of degradation.
So while in recent weeks a series of activities aimed at redeeming the territory have begun, yesterday the usual unknown people thought it best to set fire to one of the piles of rubbish along the side of the road. In broad daylight. A sad and already seen script that repeats itself cyclically. First it accumulates and then it catches fire. The reclamation work started by the Municipality in agreement with the Prefecture and the police is recent. About forty abandoned and burned cars were removed from the area. We then had to proceed with the more complex work of clearing everything else away. But it turns out to be an unequal battle. On the one hand, the institutions and a small army of volunteers who work on multiple fronts in a concrete and silent manner to tie together a disintegrated social network; on the other there are those who want to chain the territory to degradation. Who uses Arghillà as a landfill. Who tries to burn hope through fires. Those who act as if the laws of the state were not applied here, a sort of free zone where everything is permitted and unpunished.
