Also on the Tap, or the gas pipeline to be built in Puglia, in the area of the municipality of Melendugno, the 5 Star Movement is about to disavow years of political battles. “We have not found any elements of illegitimacy. Interrupting the construction would entail unsustainable costs, amounting to tens of billions of euros, there are numbers at stake that are close to those of an economic maneuver", said Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, after illustrating the dossier delivered by Environment Minister Sergio Costa (minister in 5 Star share), which in fact gives the green light to the great work, the one that Alessandro Di Battista in the electoral campaign had promised would be stopped "in just two weeks".
It took more than weeks to study the dossier, and in the end even a favorable opinion arrived. With the approval of Deputy Prime Minister Luigi Di Maio, who also and above all makes it a financial issue: "There are up to twenty billion euros in penalties to be paid, that is, more than the basic income and one hundred combined". But the reactions came quickly. The former minister Carlo Calenda immediately proved DI Maio wrong: "There is no penalty" in the contract. The other deputy prime minister, Northern League leader Matteo Salvini, even rejoiced, while Salento feels betrayed and is now clamoring for the grillini's resignation. On social media there are those who have remembered not only Dibba's memorable shot, but also those of Barbara Lezzi, a minister from Lecce who made her flag of no to the gas pipeline by appearing more than once at the construction site. Which justified itself as follows: “Since we took office we have done what has never been done before. We have carried out a cost-benefit analysis, we have dialogued with the territory, we have listened to the requests and studied the documents of the local authorities”.
The works will therefore resume in the next few days, albeit with a program modified by a series of judicial troubles in which the No Taps and the Municipality of Melendugno have dragged the multinational. Despite part of the construction site being seized, another blocked by the mayor, the third in the sights of the prosecutor's consultants for the non-application of the Seveso Law, the Tap house exudes great satisfaction. whythe political go-ahead from the Conte government was necessary to be able to start again. And also to have from the Viminale the support useful for organizing public order services that make it possible to contain the protests, as already happened in 2017, when tensions led to clashes between activists and the forces of order and Melendugno was militarized to allow the multinational to work. The organization of these services is already underway while the company is preparing to leave Brindisi for the ship that will carry out the first operations at sea.
In the meantime, FederPetroli Italy, with the words of President Michele Marsiglia, intervenes on the subject, sending a clear message to the Government: "We have been investing for years and companies continue to spend money on tenders and offers for various sections of the gas pipeline, we are not interested in the true or false contractual penalties, if the pipeline is not completed, we will promote a legal action for damages against the Institution and whoever is responsible for stopping this Project, organizing a pool of companies involved in the international tenders called for the different sections of the Tap”.
