>>>ANSA/We can change things Meloni tells Naples protesters

(ANSA) - ROME, JUL 15 - Premier Giorgia Meloni on Monday asked Naples protesters to give her centre-right government the chance to show it can change things during a visit to the southern city to sign an agreement for the renewal of its Bagnoli and Coroglio districts with Mayor Gaetano Manfredi.
    "I saw that there are demonstrators outside - from the slogans I would say that they are from (left-wing) social centres, but if they were not, if they were citizens' committees, I would say that I understand them," Meloni said at the ceremony to sign the agreement.
    "So many promises have been made and betrayed here in the past.
    "But I would tell them to give us a chance to show that things can be changed.
    "The state, the institutions are in Bagnoli, and they have decided to show their face (and commit to solving) a long-standing problem, which has been going on for so long that citizens are convinced it cannot be solved.
    "But the political world must set itself the challenge of achieving difficult goals, not easy ones.
    "It is the only way to show that politicians are not all the same, and it is the only way to bring citizens closer to the institutions".
    The Memorandum of Understanding signed by Meloni and Manfredi regards the appointment of an extraordinary commissioner for the Bagnoli-Coroglio area and the implementation of 1.2-billion-euro environmental reclamation and urban regeneration programme.
    Urban decay is a major problem for Bagnoli, which used to be home to a major steelworks plant.
    The premier described the plan for Bagnoli as "Europe's most ambitious environmental clean-up and urban regeneration project".
    "We will do what needs to be done," Meloni continued.
    "To those who thought that these territories were doomed, that they had no hope, that they could only be maintained with welfarism, we will show these people that they were very wrong, that much more can be done, in a different way.
    "And (we will show) you can put these territories in a position to compete on equal terms and prove their worth".
    Manfredi, who will be the commissioner for Bagnoli, also expressed satisfaction.
    "We have no uncertainty, like never before," he said.
    "Today we are setting a robust, precise road map". (ANSA).