Translated automatically by AI from the Italian original.
PALERMO / MELILLI – The political row and the long-distance exchange between the Syracuse members of the Sicilian Regional Assembly have moved back to social media, reigniting institutional debate in Sicily. Hot on the heels of statements by the PD member Tiziano Spada, a fierce video response has come from Giuseppe Carta – member of the Sicilian Regional Assembly, chair of the Assembly’s Environment Committee and mayor of Melilli – who replies point by point to the accusations levelled after the recent verbal and near-physical clash inside Sala Ercole.
At the heart of the dispute remain the boundaries of the AERCA (High Environmental Crisis Risk Areas) and the management of the funds earmarked for the redevelopment and protection of Floridia and Solarino.
“The clash was premeditated, no spontaneous violence”
Carta begins his remarks by addressing the events of recent days at the Sicilian Regional Assembly, rejecting accusations that he had sought to exclude the two Syracuse municipalities from environmental benefits:
“I note that my colleague Spada’s act of violence was not linked to a momentary issue but was well premeditated and had been brewing for days,” Giuseppe Carta begins. “They are spinning the tale that I wanted to remove Solarino and Floridia from the ERCA areas: what a vile lie? The current law that secured the funds for the promotion and redevelopment of ERCA centres in the province of Syracuse was my idea. And do you know why? Because the municipal councillors of Grande Sicilia in Solarino had asked me to redevelop Pozzo Chiesa, an area that is still in a state of neglect today.”
The attack on the funds and administrative management
The member and mayor of Melilli forcefully claims credit for the legislative work done in recent years, pointing the finger at the actual administrative ability of the local authorities in Floridia and Solarino to access and spend public funds for remediation:
“Why doesn’t Tiziano Spada say that the legislative process for the rule was approved as it stands and that I myself had guaranteed one million euros for Floridia and Solarino if no agreement was reached? The truth is that those areas did not have the right characteristics for the spending because not one euro has been spent on health and environmental prevention,” Carta presses. “Let me give you an example: decree 2090 of December 2024. The Region released design funds for the clean-up of polluted sites. The Municipality of Floridia received the money, but you did not submit the projects. You do not care about the citizens at all; you only think about rows and parties.”
The chapter on alliances and the missing apology
In his video statement, Carta broadens the conflict to local political balances and the alleged attempts at electoral interference:
“You talk about stability and blackmail? Tell that to the citizens of Solarino, to whom you summoned the Grande Sicilia councillors only to have the mayor of Floridia there to threaten to throw them out of the municipal executive if they did not switch to your side,” Carta accuses. “We remained loyal to the political project that saw you become mayor. After the very ugly scene at the ARS, which will go down in the annals of regional politics, you apologised to me in front of the President of the Assembly. Decent people, after a remark like that, stop and think; you, instead, want to exploit the episode to play the victim.”
“New rule in December, but we will monitor the resources”
In closing, the chair of the Environment Committee announces the next steps at the ARS, warning that the management of future allocations will be strictly tied to prevent uses deemed unsuitable for public health:
“In December we will introduce a new rule to tell the citizens living in the ERCA areas of the province of Syracuse that the funds will arrive, but this time we will be very careful: we will not give you money for parties or summer events, only for the care and protection of citizens,” Carta concludes. “I am on the side of the territories and the people who have suffered pollution for these twenty years, not on the side of those who use institutions for election campaigning.”
