The meeting was held yesterday at the Ministry of Economic Development between Minister Carlo Calenda, Domenico Arcuri (AD Invitalia) Maria Grazia Piras (Region of Sardinia) and the General Secretaries of Fim, Fiom, Uilm Marco Bentivogli, Maurizio Landini, Rocco Palombella, on the dispute concerning the Ex-Alcoa plant in Portovesme.
The Minister illustrated the state of the situation, with the warning that it is evolving also in relation to the meetings in progress with the industrial subjects involved and that he will be able to see definitions on the various aspects in the near future.
Specifically, with Alcoa next week, the availability of economic resources useful for environmental remediation (relating to the reclamation of the aquifer) and the resources for restarting the smelter will have to be defined, and with the Government for the conclusion of the dispute relating to the of energy.
At the moment the industrial investor Sider Alloys is involved and comparisons are underway on the industrial plan and on the further necessary interventions on the price of energy, on which a forthcoming general regulation on energy-intensive companies and infrastructural companies concerning the usability of the port at goods and raw materials.
The Government's commitment is significant in terms of resources and support for the development contract, and is aimed at supporting the consolidation project of the industrial apparatus and the territory, as well as giving a concrete response to the prospects of work and occupation. Invitalia judged the industrial and acquisition plan presented by Sider Alloys as "admissible"; there is also the availability of own investment and the expected employment recovery is around 400 jobs through the restart of the smelter and the new rolling mill.
Marco Bentivogli, general secretary of the Fim-Cisl, declared that: “For the Fim-Cisl it is serious that only now has the work for the port system been contracted out, which we have been asking for since 1995, the express roads from Cagliari to Carbonia, the confirmation of the scheme for the reduction of energy costs. Local institutions must finally do their part so as not to let the few businesses still open escape. At a central level, it is necessary to quickly complete the ongoing negotiations with the various industrial subjects, necessary to avoid the dismantling of the smelter which has been stopped since 2012”.
“Now we need to do it quickly and well – underlines Bentivogli – because social safety nets cannot represent the solution for those who, in one of the poorest regions of the country, are looking for work and not assistance. It is serious that the Sardinia Region has not yet signed and implemented the agreement proposed by Invitalia, with related resources, to support income and redevelopment, and this must be recovered quickly ".
"Today's news - concludes the trade unionist - therefore is the one that the government is continuing through Minister Calenda the arduous path to regain the industrial vocation of the area, thanks to the great and generous commitment of union workers and the whole community local. If the KPS fund and other industrial operators (we are talking about an automotive company) have serious interests, they should join the proposal already on the table and allow for an evaluation between real proposals and not between fake expressions of interest which they have delayed and blocked for years the sale of the plant and complicated an already very difficult game. We hope that the path taken is the right one and that it will finally lead to the relaunch of the Sardinian plant".
