The weekend just passed was also characterized by meetings and debates on the single municipality. And it couldn’t be otherwise, just a few days after referendum (we will vote on Sunday 1st December) which will give citizens the opportunity to Cosenza, Rende and Castroliberoto express their opinion regarding a project that is dividing public opinion, but above all politics, between those in favor and against. Numerous interventions were recorded yesterday, coming mainly from the centre-right front, when the other day in Rende the no committees, during an initiative organized by Idm, reiterated doubts and perplexities about a project that they consider “dropped from above”.
And precisely on this ground the former mayor of Cosenza, now senator of Forza Italia, Mario Occhiutosays he is willing to confront, in Rende, «with those who support the reasons for the “no”, demonstrating in facts that false news is being spread. There are those who still today conceive Rende as a sort of personal fortress, while in reality it is an expression of modernity that seeks the path to rebirth precisely in the unique city. It brings to life a difficult phase and not only would it not lose any of its vocations with a single city but it would experience a strong relaunch.
The citizens of Rende, mostly from Cosenza, perhaps don’t know that today water in their municipality costs twice as much as in Cosenza. They don’t know that in the case of a single city the Tari would decrease by at least a third because there would be a single service that would guarantee significant savings. Those who spread false news – continues Occhiuto – demonstrate that they maintain those defensive positions that in the seventies and eighties generated a fracture between communities. The real challenge of the future is to ensure that our children do not have to leave and only a large city can build a truly consolidated community, which can stand as a political and cultural leader of Calabria.”
And the municipal councilor of Palazzo dei Bruzi, Francesco Spadafora, exponent of Fratelli d’Italia, speaks of a great opportunity for the future: . On the criticisms raised by those who oppose the project, in particular regarding the debt situation of the Municipality of Cosenza, Spadafora clarifies: «The debts of the Municipality are already under the management of an extraordinary body appointed by the Ministry of the Interior. They do not represent an obstacle to the merger. Those who argue otherwise are spreading falsehoods to scare citizens, putting their personal interests first rather than the future of the territory. We have the historic opportunity to create a modern, strong and united city.”
And while some young people from the urban area who study in other Italian cities write to the Calabrian governor, Roberto Occhiuto, asking to allow students away from home to vote for the consultative referendum, the deputy group leader of the Brothers of Italy in the Chamber, Alfredo Antoniozzi, recalls that «on 1 December the referendum on the single city will be voted on, not for regional or administrative elections. It is not a clash between right and left. A referendum is always a moment of democracy even if unfortunately the turnout could be low as seen in other types of elections. I would like to thank all the Yes committees who are working hard, from all the parties.” Today, meanwhile, precisely in view of the referendum, the Salvini Premier League of Cosenza has organized an information gazebo in Piazza 11 Settembre, from 4.30 pm to 7.30 pm.
In this regard, the provincial secretary of Caroccio, Leo Battaglia, underlines: «The Lega Salvini Premier of Cosenza strongly supports the Single City project which involves the municipalities of Cosenza, Rende and Castrolibero. This is an ambitious and strategic initiative, designed to consolidate the future of an area rich in culture and potential.” Instead, the former municipal councilor of Rende, Luciano Bonanno, is asking himself questions: «I honestly don’t understand why, in the first place, there was this sort of sudden acceleration of an almost natural procedure.
In a certain sense the three areas, that of Cosenza, Rende and Castrolibero already seem to belong to a single city and in some cases it is difficult to understand where one ends and the other begins and vice versa, and secondly why the municipality of Montalto has not been included in this highly coveted political project, considering that the urban expansion of the entire urban area extends northwards”. Finally, inviting citizens to go to the polls, «so that democracy triumphs», the president of the yes committee of Nazione Futura, Antonino Scavelli, asserts: «We ask citizens for a yes to build a great reality. We believe that Cosenza, understood as an urban area, can truly return to its ancient glories by uniting and positioning itself as a great city in the South.”
