“We have not been able to make our closeness to the city felt and I apologize for this. But we put ourselves at the service of the city and the institutions to react. Concrete help is expected from us. We must and can do something to alleviate the consequences of this tragedy". She said it on Saturday afternoon John Castellucci, CEO Autostrade per l'Italia, in the first conference after the collapse of the Morandi bridge in Genoa, which claimed the lives of more than 40 people.
A FUND FOR THE FAMILIES OF THE VICTIMS
“We will make available a fund for the immediate needs of the families of the victims – he added – regardless of reimbursements and legal aspects. The delivery methods will be agreed with the Municipality, which will manage the fund".
A NEW STEEL BRIDGE IN EIGHT MONTHS
As for the reconstruction of the bridge, Castellucci explained that "a project has been developed that allows us to work in parallel, accelerating times, and will allow us in eight months to finish the demolitions and reconstruction of the bridge”. The new infrastructure, continued the manager, “it will be steel” and will be “even less impactful” than the previous one. Furthermore, "interventions for the mending of the viability of people and goods are already possible from Monday".
A FUND ALSO FOR THOSE WHO WILL HAVE TO ABANDON THEIR HOMES
Autostrade, Castellucci assured, will also establish a fund for those who will be forced to flee their homes to allow the work to be carried out. "We have to do, we want to do and we will do everything in our power to alleviate the pain of the victims and the city of Genoa", confirmed Fabio Cerchiai, president of the company.
RESPONSIBILITY? THE JUDGMENT WILL ASCERTAIN THEM
On the side of responsibilities, Castellucci does not say too much: "We are the owners of the infrastructure, this is undeniable, but the judiciary will ascertain the truth of the facts. All the reports I was aware of spoke of good conditions. But this will be subject to verification. We all want to know what happened."
COSTS FOR HIGHWAYS: ABOUT HALF A BILLION
As for the costs for Autostrade, the managing director said that “by calculating all the sums, it is easy to arrive at half a billion”. Castellucci clarified that the sum does not include compensation to the victims - still to be defined - but also that none of the interventions planned by the company constitutes in any way an assumption of responsibility for what happened. But the judgment of Deputy Prime Minister Luigi Di Maio was implacable: "That of the Benettons is just almsgiving"
FROM THE GOVERNMENT 28 MILLION FOR THE EMERGENCY
Saturday also took place in the Prefecture of Genoa cabinet flash on the consequences of the collapse of the Morandi bridge. The interior minister, Matteo Salvini, said that during the meeting the "contributions" were decided. In particular, the government has decided to allocate immediately for the emergency 28 million euro. This was confirmed by the governor of Liguria, Giovanni Toti, revealing that the Executive has "substantially accepted" the requests of the Region, which amounted to around 30 million euros. When asked if a special commissioner had been appointed, the Governor did not respond.
In the meantime, after talking about the revocation for days, the government now seems to be oriented towards revocation of the concession to Autostrade.
Read also "The tragedy of Genoa and the need for a futureby Franco Locatelli.
