Water scarcity has become a significant issue in Sicily and the South of Italy. Over the past year, the region has experienced severe drought conditions. Hovewer, Puglia, not Sicily, is leading a debate.
A few days ago, Antonella de Gennaro, a journalist at Corriere del Giorno, noted that the leadership of Acquedotto Pugliese, the main aqueduct in Southern Italy, seems to have forgotten its true mission.
They are using public money from taxpayers and consumers who pay for a service – the water service – not to set up a ‘phantom’ web TV, which is not even a journalistic outlet.
The writer goes to say: “How can one not agree with the regional council group of Fratelli d’Italia in Puglia when they argue that ‘Aqp is about to transform into a large multimedia network to compete with Tv, newspapers, and information and promotion sites.
Two tenders, one for 500,000 euros and one for 160,000, for a year, to outsource a news program, a newspaper, a website.
A TV that not only informs and therefore requires the hiring of journalists, but also promotes the territory with tourist spots that require the hiring of communicators, photographers, graphic designers, cameramen?’”.
A few days ago, Maurizio Belpietro, a well-known Italian journalist and television host, currently the director of the newspaper La Verità and the weekly Panorama, highlighted the issue.
“In the last year, the rainfall on the island has reached a regional average of just over 450 millimeters, while more than 20 years ago it barely exceeded 400 millimeters.
The problem, therefore, is not the climate, but those who have not done what is necessary, namely the maintenance of water pipes and water storage basins.
Moreover, thinking about the largest aqueduct in the South, that of Puglia, it is enough to say that instead of technicians and engineers, it hires journalists, who are now an army.
Instead of water, it distributes press releases to the people of Puglia. Perhaps thinking that these are enough to quench a region“.
So, what’s happening at Acquedotto Pugliese?
Is it a tie between the long-standing issue of water scarcity and the alleged misuse of public money in Puglia?
Is it possible that a media contrivance could be used to hide past mismanagement and defeats? (Sergio Scialabba)
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