Meeting on ‘Terra dei fuochi’ decree-law at the Prefecture of Caserta

Following several meetings held at Palazzo Chigi and numerous technical meetings coordinated by the Government commissioners, a working group met at the Prefecture of Caserta headquarters this afternoon to discuss the results achieved since the 'Terra dei Fuochi' ['Land of Fire'] decree-law, approved by the Meloni Government in July this year, came into force, and to plan the next steps for the area's clean-up and redevelopment as well as to strengthen support measures for the local population.

The meeting, chaired by Undersecretary of State to the Presidency of the Council of Ministers Alfredo Mantovano and Minister of the Interior Matteo Piantedosi, was attended by: the Minister of Health, Orazio Schillaci; the Deputy Minister of the Environment and Energy Security, Vannia Gava; Special Government Commissioners Fabio Ciciliano and Giuseppe Vadalà; public prosecutors with local jurisdiction; the Prefects of Naples and Caserta; the Chief of Police, Vittorio Pisani; and, other representatives of public security forces.

In just over a month of work since the decree came into force, marking a radical step change, public security forces have imposed fines for EUR 1.78 million, checked more than 6,000 vehicles, carried out 155 seizures, and reported 148 people, with nine arrests.

With regard to environmental clean-up operations, for which EUR 60 million has been earmarked, work has begun in areas that have been severely affected for years by illegal waste disposal, rubbish being buried, uncontrolled industrial activities and the presence of illegal or inadequately managed landfills. The sites in question were chosen based on current legislation and classified according to the degree of contamination and need for safety measures or a complete clean-up.

In addition, EUR 10 million has been allocated for remediation and redevelopment measures in degraded areas, and an advanced local video surveillance project has also been launched, aimed at more effectively combatting illegal waste dumping, including the use of drones with artificial intelligence.