In the aftermath of green light from the Council of State to the realization of the Tap, the Adriatic pipeline which will connect Italy to Azerbaijan passing through countries such as Greece, Turkey and Albania, it is already time for protests in the area. The tension is very high in the locality of San Basilio, in Melendugno, manned by the police in riot gear.
Early in the morning the police broke the cordon of about 300 activists opposed to the construction of the infrastructure and, therefore, to the movement of the trees, which had been laid out in front of the entrance to the construction site to prevent the entry of vehicles, report public safety sources.
Even in the very early afternoon there were new police posts against about fifty demonstrators stopped in front of the construction site. Among them there are also some mayors of the municipalities in the area. Someone was taken ill and the 118 ambulances were called, some of the protesters on the spot reported. The scuffles lasted a few minutes and there are two allegedly injured.
The workers of Tap are back to work for the removal of the remaining olive trees: 33 have already been moved out of a total of 211, some of which are monumental. Yesterday the Council of State therefore gave the go-ahead for the implementation of the Tap, rejecting the appeals proposed by the Puglia Region and the Melendugno municipal council and believing that the environmental impact assessment made by the Via Commission had examined all the naturalistic problems. Recognized also the respect of the principle of loyal collaboration between the powers of the State.
