The cabinet on Thursday approved
the declaration of a state of emergency for flood-devastated
Venice and other parts of Veneto, earmarking 20 million euros
for the first intervention in the weather-torn northeastern
Italian region.
Premier Giuseppe Conte and his ministers approved a decree
declaring Venice to be in a state of emergency after floods
brought the city to its knees this week, killing two people.
Conte tweeted: "State of emergency for #Venice deliberated in
cabinet. 20 mn earmarked, the first funds for the most urgent
interventions, in support of the city and the population.
Working on the plan for compensation for private citizens,
shopkeepers and traders, and to refinance the special law for
Venice".
"This will make it possible to assign the first financial aid
to pay for the emergency spending and restore services," Conte
said earlier in the day after a meeting in the city with Mayor
Luigi Brugnaro, Veneto Governor Luca Zaia and Infrastructure
Minister Paola De Micheli.
The devastation caused by the flooding has led to controversy
about the fact that the MOSE flood barrier system is still not
operative after decades of work and billions of euros of
investment.
"Our commitment to Venice is total," Conte told ANSA on the
way out of his hotel on Thursday.
"The situation in this unique city is dramatic.
"Lots of money has been spent," he added regarding MOSE,
which has been hit by delays and a corruption scandal.
"It's on the final straight and now it must be completed and
maintained".
De Micheli told Radio Capital that the aim was to complete
the project by the end of 2021, while adding that "I hope that
it is partially in use before then".
The government on Thursday named former state property agency
Demanio chief Elisabetta Spitz as new extraordinary commissioner
for the MOSE project.
The MOSE system must be finished despite its being already
obsolete, Foreign Minister and anti-establishment 5-Star
Movement (M5S) leader Luigi Di Maio said.
Projects like MOSE, which are currently due to be up and
running in 2021, were "born old and stuffed with kickbacks and
corruption but now, although it isn't the best possible
solution, it must be completed as soon as possible to protect
Venice immediately", he said.
"We won't pretend not to see where the blame lies," he said.
In September the updated 2018 balance sheet of the consortium
building MOSE said the flood barriers will be handed over to the
city council at the end of 2021 to protect the lagoon city from
acqua alta or high water levels such as the 187 cm tide that hit
Monday, the highest in 50 years.
The innovative and complex system of barriers, which cost 74
million euros in 2018 alone, will be completed at the end of
June 2020, ushering in the final phase of testing.
Launched in 2003 and originally slated for completion in
2016, the MOSE project to build a system of retractable dikes
has been at the centre of a slew of corruption scandals.
MOSE stands for MOdulo Sperimentale Elettromeccanico, or
Experimental Electromechanical Module, and echoes Moses of
parting the Red Sea fame.
The 5.5 billion euro (up by 1.3 billion form the first
estimate) project is intended to protect the city of Venice and
the Venetian Lagoon from flooding.
The project is an integrated system consisting of rows of
mobile gates installed at the Lido, Malamocco, and Chioggia
inlets that are able to isolate the Venetian Lagoon temporarily
from the Adriatic Sea during acqua alta high tides.
Together with other measures, such as coastal reinforcement,
the raising of quaysides, and the paving and improvement of the
lagoon, MOSE is designed to protect Venice and the lagoon from
tides of up to 3 metres (9.8 ft).
The Consorzio Venezia Nuova is responsible for the work on
behalf of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport - Venice
Water Authority.
Construction began simultaneously in 2003 at all three lagoon
inlets, and as of June 2013, more than 85% of the project had
been completed.
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