Meloni pledges aid for flood-ravaged Emilia Romagna

(see related) (ANSA) - ROME, SEP 20 - The government is set to allocate 20 million euros to Emilia Romagna for its immediate needs after this week's devastating floods in the region, Premier Giorgia Meloni's office said after she chaired a video conference meeting on the emergency on Friday.
    "As soon as the request for the declaration of a state of emergency by the Emilia Romagna region reaches the government, a cabinet meeting will be called to allocate 20 million euros to meet the initial needs and to restore essential services, and further allocations will be made available at the outcome of post-emergency reconnaissance," Meloni said in the statement.
    Sources said the cabinet meeting would take place on Saturday.
    Meloni's pledge was made as a political row rumbles on between the centre-right central government and the region run by a centre-left alliance led by the Democratic Party (PD) over who is to blame for the huge impact of the extreme weather, just a year after a previous wave of deadly floods hit the region.
    On Thursday Civil Protection Minister Nello Musumeci called out the regional government for allegedly not spending all the money it has been given to deal with the aftermath of last year's floods and not taking preventative action.
    He continued the attack on Friday, saying: "it's the end of the world when it rains in Emilia-Romagna - something is wrong".
    PD leader Elly Schlein has accused the government of "political looting" in its reaction to the floods, two months ahead of elections in the region.
    The centre-left party has pointed out that the government put its own commissioner in charge of the reconstruction after last year's floods, rather that former governor Stefano Bonaccini, who recently stepped down after being elected to the European Parliament.
    Interim Governor Irene Priolo took a swipe at the government on Friday, saying President Sergio Mattarella had called in the wake of this week's floods but Meloni had not.
    She also said she did not understand why Musumeci was giving so much stress to the situation in Emilia-Romagna while Marche, governed by the centre-right administration, was also badly hit by flooding.
    "It is shameful to describe us as an ineffective region," Priolo said.
    "I won't stand for it". (ANSA).