23 October 2006

The bankruptcy of the Comune di Taranto

The services of our every day lives depend on local institutions: roads, nurseries, public transport, refuse collection and disposal. The local council of a city shouldn’t be allowed to go bankrupt in the midst of indifference.
And yet that is what has happened at Taranto. A few days ago, the Commissario straordinario {official given charge of the situation}, Tommaso Blonda, approved the definitive management report on the 2005 financial situation of the Comune di Taranto.
In 2004, the deficit was more than 83 million Euro. In 2005 it increased by 60% to about 138 million. The debts not included in the balance sheet were in the region of 150 million. The latent liabilities are almost 160 million. Overall the deficit is almost 450 million. Euro.
The ten days of financial autonomy guaranteed by the Commissario have gone by. The coffers are empty and public services have started to be cut. It is unacceptable that the citizens one more time, have to pay for people that consider the public realm to be their zone of conquest.
It is correct that local entities are given responsibility with autonomy to make decisions and raise revenue through taxes, but it is in the same measure right that the administrations give an account of their actions right to the end.
An important city that goes bankrupt is a symptom of the collapse of the public administration, but also of the inefficiency of the control bodies and of the political parties. It is a bad signal that must make us reflect.

Posted by Antonio Di Pietro in Society