Translated automatically by AI from the Italian original.
ROME / NAPLES / BARI – The hauliers’ dispute is inflaming the Mezzogiorno and climbing to the top of the national political agenda. Despite the government’s announcement of the release of €480 million for the road haulage sector and the allocation of more than €150 million in new funds, the protests by owner-drivers continue to paralyse the road network and the strategic arteries of the South, causing an unbridgeable rift even with the trade associations that are calling for the removal of the blockades.
From the parliamentary chambers of the Chamber of Deputies comes the executive’s peremptory stance, while from the major southern cities an impassioned cry of alarm is raised over the survival of essential services.
Minister Urso: “Blocking lorries alone is also a criminal offence, arrests will follow”
Speaking at Question Time in Montecitorio, the Minister for Business and Made in Italy Adolfo Urso clarified the hard line adopted by the Interior Ministry towards protesters filtering highway traffic:
“Regarding the road blockades by hauliers in the South, the Interior Ministry reports that it is proceeding with identifications, also with a view to removing the protests,” Adolfo Urso said. “Blocking the passage of lorries alone, while allowing cars to pass, still constitutes the offence of road blockade, with criminal consequences including custody. It is significant and emblematic that the trade associations themselves are asking us to forcibly remove the illegal blockades.”
Manfredi and Leccese’s warning: “Speed up the talks, supermarkets and waste at breaking point”
Emphasising the dramatic social impact on their areas are the mayors of Naples and Bari, Gaetano Manfredi and Vito Leccese, who in a joint note urge the Deputy Prime Minister and Transport Minister Matteo Salvini to bring forward as a matter of urgency the round-table meeting initially scheduled for 27 October:
“The situation in the cities of the Mezzogiorno remains extremely critical and risks worsening further,” the mayors Leccese and Manfredi stress. “The blockade of goods traffic is seriously compromising food supplies, with fresh produce failing to reach distribution platforms and supermarket shelves increasingly empty. We are asking for the meeting to be brought forward: we risk cities brought to a standstill and overwhelmed by waste.”
Confindustria and GDO: empty shelves from Caserta to Rome
Echoing the alarm from local institutions is a joint note signed by the Industrial Unions of Campania and Confindustria Bari and BAT, denouncing a veritable production paralysis due to the lack of raw materials and components.
The logistics crisis is extending its effects well beyond Campania and Apulia: empty fruit, vegetable and essential food sections are being reported these hours also in supermarkets in Molise, Abruzzo and the southern part of Lazio.
