“Risanamento does not go on vacation”. The lawyer Marcello Scurria dictates times and strategic lines, marking some deadlines in red, from now until the end of the year. The man who, in his role as “vice” of the President of the Region (Schifani was appointed extraordinary commissioner at the end of 2022, receiving the baton from the prefect Cosima DiStani), has in his hands the special powers to implement the law against the degradation of the shanty towns of Messina, is convinced that the next few months will be particularly important on this front, which is political and administrative, but even more so social.
There are definitely two games to be closed by 2024: the definitive assignment of new homes to all “fragile” subjects and the reclamation of the Fondo Saccà and Fondo Basile areas. In addition, there is the planned demolition of all the “micro-shanty towns” that dot the city territory, in many cases literally hidden, to the point that until recently their existence was ignored.
The priority for the “very fragile” and the “fragile” had been indicated by Scurria since the beginning of his new mandate as sub-commissioner. «In my long commitment on this front, after the experience gained as president of Arisme – he states –, I have been able to personally know dozens and dozens of cases of families with people affected by very serious or serious disabilities. Health situations ascertained by the ASP and which we have begun to monitor. I have made a moral commitment: none of these people would have to live in a shack anymore. Today we are completing this operation which, by next December 31st, will have finally given dignified accommodation to 250 families. I believe that this is already a very important goal».
Fondo Saccà and Fondo Basile are two of the most important areas – in addition to Fondo Fucile, Bisconte and Rione Taormina – where reconstruction is planned, a redevelopment method that does not excite Scurria. “I have increasingly become convinced that this city no longer needs new construction work, but rather the redevelopment of what already exists, and this is especially true for those areas that are not exactly “shanty towns”, occupied by ultra-popular houses and cottages, which must become the prototype of new “green”, sustainable and liveable neighborhoods, no longer simple dormitories and “barracks”. Having said this – continues Scurria – the interventions planned at Fondo Basile and Fondo Saccà are, however, valuable. A total of one hundred new homes will be built, once the environmental remediation operation is completed”. In line with what was stated, the sub-commissioner provides a significant figure: “We have so far purchased over two hundred houses. We have committed a large part of the 100 million allocated to support the “Carfagna law”, this will allow us to ask, starting next year, for an increase in financial resources, and on this we are certain of the commitment of the Messina delegation, starting with the undersecretary for Relations with Parliament, Matilde Siracusano, who has always been and continues to be on the front line to fight the scourge of the shacks in Messina”.
The “micro-shantytowns” chapter is equally important, according to Scurria. «Removing those hovels, often present near the streets of the center, allows us to redevelop the urban fabric, as well as giving a home worthy of the name to those who have never had one». And then there is another aspect that the former president of Arisme has continued to emphasize for years now: «Thanks to the Risanamento, projects are being realized that revive the neighborhoods considered “fringe areas”. I think of the urban park of Camaro which, two months after its inauguration, is a little gem, frequented every day by hundreds of people, families with children, elderly people. And then the urban park that we will create in the Magnolia district of Giostra, where the former Case Volante stood. It was not easy to unblock the procedure that had been at a standstill for years, we did it, a splendid oasis of greenery will come, in the heart of Giostra. This too is Risanamento».
The mandate of the Commissioner’s Office will expire on December 31, 2025. It is very likely that the law will be refinanced and the mandate will be further extended., to complete all the projects started. 2026, as in the case of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, could be a crossroads of fundamental importance, a decisive step, even if Scurria had indicated 2028 as the date by which it will be possible to demolish even the last of the Messina shacks. «But the challenges of urban regeneration – highlights the sub-commissioner – are not limited to shacks in the strict sense, they are much broader and it is precisely on this theme that we will intervene with a report at the next “Biennale dello Stretto”».
