Translated automatically by AI from the Italian original.
SYRACUSE – The political and institutional row in the province of Syracuse shows no sign of abating. Giuseppe Carta, a majority regional MP and mayor of Melilli, has issued a detailed rebuttal to recent statements by his colleague Tiziano Spada, rejecting the accusations and demanding clarity on the handling of environmental issues in Solarino and Floridia.
Funds for AERCA areas and clean-ups: “These are separate rules; in Solarino, procedures are stalled”
Carta first categorically denied the existence of any alleged plan to exclude Solarino and Floridia from the funding intended for AERCA (High Environmental Crisis Risk Areas).
“I challenge him to specify the place, circumstances and people to whom I supposedly revealed this alleged exclusionary project. Spada is confusing two laws and two separate rules: the budget variation under discussion in the chamber has nothing to do with the law already in force for AERCA areas. Proof of this is that Floridia has already been allocated €36,000 for Christmas 2026.
The areas designated as AERCA must be managed, not abandoned. Spada should instead explain why the characterisation of polluted sites in Solarino has not been carried out, such as the landfill in contrada Cugno Randazzo (no. 527) or the other sites recorded by the Region of Sicily’s waste department, whose procedures remain at a standstill despite the availability of funds.”
Clarifications on the political background and the Feast of Saint Paul
Addressing the political and local reconstructions, Carta gave his version of some episodes cited by his colleague:
- Electoral pressure: “I misspoke: the person who arranged the discussions with the Grande Sicilia councillors in Solarino was not Spada directly, but Floridia’s mayor Carianni, who unexpectedly turned up at the meeting place.”
- Funding for patronal festivals: “The ‘Festa dei Carroccioli’ event fully falls within the celebrations in honour of the patron saint, Saint Paul. To contest this is an outright lie.”
- Institutional venue: “As these are matters concerning his role as mayor of Solarino, Spada should have responded from the town hall and not from the political headquarters in Floridia.”
Clash in the chamber: “Unbecoming behaviour, an apology is owed”
Regarding the heated moments recorded in recent days at the Sicilian Regional Assembly, Carta recalled the mediation by the ARS presidency:
“It was not Spada who went to President Galvagno; it was the President who called him to invite him to offer a formal apology, which I accepted only to avoid his suspension from parliamentary activity. I urge him to refrain from demagogic victimhood.
With humility, he should admit to having erred in tone and content and apologise to the citizens of the entire province of Syracuse and to all parliamentary colleagues for the violent behaviour displayed in a place sacred to democracy. Commitment to the area is not measured in words but in actions and in approved bills, such as the AERCA rules, whose authorship the majority and I claim.”
