(Tiper Stock Exchange) – It was the night of August 24, 2016 when the earth shook in central Italy: an earthquake that caused the death of 299 people, 237 in Amatrice, 51 in Arquata (almost all in the Pescara del Tronto district) and 11 in Accumoli. 41 thousand were displaced with a total damage of 28 billion euros. Seven years after that tragic event, the reconstruction machine, not without difficulties and delays, seems to have hit the accelerator. To say it are the numbers that arrive from the commissarial structure relating to the earthquake crater.
“Seven years have passed since the terrible earthquake that struck at 3.36 on August 24, 2016 hit Central Italy. On that terrible night, a strong shock started a destructive sequence that lasted until the first days of 2017 and which involved a very vast territory of our nation”, said Prime Minister Meloni. “Four Regions affected, more than three hundred lives lost, hundreds injured, tens of thousands displaced, villages and towns entirely destroyed or seriously damaged. Wonderful “places of the soul” – from Amatrice to Norcia, from Accumoli to Arquata, from Visso to Castelsantangelo sul Nera, from Ussita to Pescara del Tronto, and many others – which are in the hearts of all of us. A real catastrophe that will remain forever in our collective memory. On this anniversary, we renew our condolences for the victims and our closeness to their families and loved ones,” he added, emphasizing how “Unfortunately, seven years after the earthquake, the reconstruction is still incomplete. It’s a wound that hasn’t closed and it still hurts. Over fourteen thousand families still live far from their homes, many territories are struggling to return to normalcy, there are several delays to be filled and the critical issues that remain to be addressed. The Government is working to give a change of pace, from the rules to the construction sites”.
And precisely with a view to reconstruction, the commitment of Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP) is growing in favor of the revitalization and security of the territories of Abruzzo, Lazio, Marche and Umbria with the aim of continuing to support businesses and families.
“The month of July represented the month in history with the most important disbursements equal to 130 million euros”, he explains Livio Schmid, Head of Financial Institutions of CDP, underlining the acceleration and benefits of an initiative “which involves the local banking system and allows citizens not to bear the costs of reconstruction which remain the responsibility of the State with a virtuous mechanism that dilutes over time loan repayment charges”. And he adds: “We are very proud to have supported this reconstruction process which in these areas alone has supported almost 20 thousand families and almost 3 thousand businesses and obviously it is a concrete demonstration of how we can be useful in supporting the territory, the needs of medium-sized businesses and the need to restore to these places the centrality and importance they had before the dramatic events of 2016”.