“If you close those plants they will never reopen. There must be a commitment from everyone not to close Taranto ": very clear and unequivocal the words of the Minister of Economic Development, Corrado Passera, on the future of Ilva of Taranto, "because if it were to close - he says in an interview with Uno Mattina - it would bring with it a series of supply chains, in addition to the closure of all the plants of the group".
"What the company was doing, and what we have done with the allocation of resources for reclamation and interventions and the common sense of having parameters that are not extreme - continued the minister - should allow us to avoid closure, because if you turn off one of you don't turn these ovens back on again and for that city and for Italy, it would be a truly excessive cost”. AND "woe to put workers in front of the unacceptable alternative" between work and pollution. Passera's words are important, which open up some glimmers.
In Taranto, meanwhile, the expectation is growing to know the decision of the judges on the appeals presented against the seizure of the plants in the hot area and those of the defenders of the eight arrested managers and former managers who are asking for their release. There is time until Thursday 9 August, then the terms for the decision will expire. But the judges could express themselves even earlier.
Meanwhile, yesterday in Bari, in the Region, there was a summit to discuss the commitments that the company will have to take on to reduce pollution in the Taranto area.
The so-called technical table on Ilva met in Bari to discuss emissions monitoring, benzopyrene and mineral parks. "A positive response from Ilva - said the president of the Region Nichi Vendola, who was also present at the meeting - would in fact constitute a premise for being able to begin to rebuild the relationship between the company and the common sensibility of the people of Taranto" .
On the Roman front, meanwhile, the Minister of the Environment Corrado Clini also replied to the controversies yesterday. “Some press organs – said the minister -, have built a hypothesis that on the Ilva of Taranto there has been a sort of “combine”, and this is offensive and irresponsible. There are 20 families - continued Clini - who depend on Ilva in Taranto and thousands of other workers throughout Italy who are linked to the Taranto iron and steel cycle. Saying these things is an irresponsible act that must be denounced very decisively, without any doubt".
