Alberto Mantovani entrepreneur and banker from Mirandola has a proposal: “No gifts – he says – but medium-term 1,5% mortgages, 8-10 years, with state guarantee and contribution from the Region. We need this to restart”. Former president of Confindustria Emilia-Romagna, former president of Cassa di Mirandola, today Mantovani presides over the Modenese bank of the Carife group. He understands the reasons for credit: "The institutions are close to us, from my bank to the Bper, but they need guarantees", and the reasons for companies: "It takes courage to start over and not everyone feels like it. Many little ones who have lost everything will not reopen. They'll take what's there, if it's there, and shut it down. I and many others don't and if Italy doesn't want a 'dead valley', a valley of death instead of a valley full of businesses and work, it must make a little more serious efforts than those announced by the Government”. Does deferring taxes suit you? “I don't pose the problem. I'm not cashing out. I will not pay. I don't even have a computer, can I worry about taxes?”.
Mantovani produces buckets in Mirandola, those shears that are used to pull down crumbling buildings. The earthquake has also created this paradox: the supplier cannot deliver the machines for demolition and reconstruction because it was also affected by the earthquake. Mantovanibenne in half a century of life had never stopped, until Tuesday 29 May. “The first earthquake had already caused damage – says the entrepreneur – but after the second shock we were no longer able to enter, although only the side panels of the shed collapsed. In there there are products to be delivered, production machines that are impossible to move, computers to manage administration and make project drawings. I've been waiting for the fire department since 8 this morning. But like Godot I seem to have been waiting a lifetime and with little hope. The entrepreneur also had his house damaged and lives in a rented camper in Bergamo, together with his wife, son and grandchildren. “We camped in the garden, with my son – he says – and now we will open containers in the company garden, to make plans and set up administration. The problem is that the second earthquake also knocked us down psychologically”.
Everything has slowed down since the 29th, but for Mantovani one cannot expect more: “Now there is this ordinance that prevents us from entering, before the inspection by the brigade. I certainly wouldn't feel like leaving without authorisations, I don't want to risk the lives of my boys, because it's more important than anything. Personally, however, I would like to enter. I'm ready to roll up my sleeves and even take some risks on my person, because I have no intention of closing down or moving from here". Mantovanibenne in Mirandola has 60 employees, but around a hundred are also abroad, in factories in Brazil, China and France. “Those companies are working – she claims – but I don't want to move. Above all, I want to stay here, where I work with people who have been with me for 30 years and whom I could not replace with anyone. And then I have 10 square meters of surface area, it's not something that is invented overnight”. In short, all that remains is to wait, in the hope that after the stunning the car will start again: “I really liked the speech by the president of the Region, Vasco Errani. No commissioner, but normal ways for reconstruction, because we can do it ".
The companies meet the civil protection in Medolla at 16,30
Civil protection and companies hit by the earthquake meet today at 16,30 pm in Medolla, in the square of the local headquarters of Confindustria Modena. On this occasion, companies will be able to ask for information on the procedures to follow to verify the viability or unusability of their structures and to request expeditious site inspections and subsequent surveys by teams of trained structural engineers. Demetrio Egidi, director of the Regional Agency of Civil Protection will intervene.
