Translated automatically by AI from the Italian original.
MATERA / NATIONAL – A wave of burglaries is testing the patience of residents and businesses across the province of Matera. From Policoro to Montalbano Jonico, via Bernalda and Ferrandina, concern is growing over repeated break-ins by criminals targeting private homes, businesses and farms.
As the situation worsens, the UGL Matera union has issued a strong appeal to civilian and military institutions, urging immediate action and a concrete boost to the state’s presence on the ground.
Patrols and home burglaries: the picture painted by Giordano
The voice of local communities is Pino Giordano, provincial secretary of UGL Matera, who stresses that the climate of insecurity is undermining the social and economic fabric of the area:
“We can no longer just record burglaries and collect citizens’ concerns. We are facing a situation that demands immediate, concrete and extraordinary responses. The repeated break-ins at homes, businesses and farms are fuelling a climate of fear that cannot be underestimated. Security is not a privilege but a fundamental right that the state has a duty to guarantee.”
Criminals have particularly targeted homes in the centres of Policoro, Montalbano Jonico and Ferrandina – mainly in the evening for gold and valuables – as well as two separate tobacconists robbed in Policoro in recent weeks:
“It is unacceptable that a family should have to live in fear of leaving their home or finding burglars inside. Think of the elderly, children and the most vulnerable: fear must not become a normal part of people’s lives.”
Request to the prefect: security committee and resources for the police
UGL has directly contacted the prefect of Matera, the provincial heads of the police forces and the mayors of the affected towns, calling for an urgent meeting of the provincial committee for public order and security:
- Extra control plan: Increase patrols in the evening and at night, with special attention to outskirts, rural areas and residential districts.
- Strengthen staffing: Extra personnel assigned from other stations to fill structural shortfalls in established posts.
- Operational means and tools: Adequate equipment to enable the Carabinieri, the National Police (Polizia di Stato) and the financial police (Guardia di Finanza) to operate with maximum effectiveness.
“We know and appreciate the valuable daily work of the Carabinieri, the National Police and all the officers, to whom we give our full support. That is precisely why we are asking for enough officers, resources and equipment to be made available to them. We do not want promises, we want security: the state must make its presence felt and show that no area is left alone,” Giordano concluded.
