Waste, cement, illegal dumping for approx 300 million euro per year: a record ? It is not certain, because eco-mafias do not stop easily. When Legambiente presented its Report together with the Novamont Company, describing the figures of eco-business particularly concentrated in five Regions -Campania, Puglia, Calabria, Sicily, Lombardy- many wondered why there was still so much illicit traffic in a A country that (for better or for worse) has taken the path of ecological transition. A country that has specialized Carabinieri and Guardia di Finanza against trafficking transformed into industry with many volunteers at work throughout Italy. The responses to the Legambiente data were varied: insufficient controls, complicity, medium-long term interests on uncultivated land, illegal building, unscrupulous entrepreneurship. Yes, there are those who go against the rules. Twenty days ago a canning company in the Nocerino area, famous throughout the world for its DOC brand, was seized for illegal discharges into the Sarno river. From the North they have buried dangerous waste for years in the Caserta countryside. A clean system which has saved billions for disposal.
Fortunately, the debate and initiatives for legality do not stop. The President of the Republic also recently recalled this Sergio Mattarella. The state and public opinion must be united because there is "illicit capital also in the corporate circuit," he told police officers. And the information? “ This hasn't been the case for some time now. I want to wish that journalistic investigations will return to being very accurate, severe and truly useful ”he tells FIRSTonline Margaret Rebuffoni, mother of the journalist Nadia Toffa disappeared in 2019. Margherita is very attentive to what is told by the media. She has followed her daughter's career and is close to journalists.
The value of information
Mother of a tenacious and passionate reporter with her husband Maurice Toffa la Mrs. Rebuffoni travels Italy from Brescia to stimulate citizen participation in the fight against eco-mafia in defense of legality. TO Sant'Arsenio, a few kilometers from Salerno, the Toffa took part in the Nadia Toffa 2023 Journalistic Award, dedicated to "Environment and legality". The event was organized by the Municipality of Sant'Arsenio and by NOA-Environmental Operational Unit. Nadia, envoy of the Hyenas, has carried out burning inquiries on waste and sick health care. “These occasions show us again a love for our daughter and that she is remembered like this is a wonderful thing”. A Foundation is dedicated to Nadia which organizes meetings and debates involving volunteers and very young people. “Many young people are approaching these issues. It's about their future. They mobilize against what we elderly people have done without meaning to, ”adds Mrs. Rebuffoni. Her daughter worked hard and stubbornly to get into the world of information.
In the field for the environment there are institutions and volunteers such as NOA. But is it only a problem of the South? "Absolutely not. We are bad even in the North. Luckily NOAs exist here. They monitor without being invasive and are very generous with us as we address these topics.”
Nadia Toffa has gone down in the history of investigative journalism like a meteor given his disappearance at a young age. “She was scrupulous when she started an investigation. She loved this job. Sometimes she even took a month to get to the truth. This is no longer done, articles and services done well are tiring, but it can be done. The business of malfeasance, unfortunately, does not care about the investigations by the media. Turnover is too greedy even in a country that wants to go green, green, for one or more reporters to close the cycle. But it's always better to try.
