"In Cagliari, the porticoes of Via Roma and the surrounding areas have been transformed into a sprawling 'non-reception' center: a veritable 'Grand Hotel Desperados ', where residents and tourists are forced to slalom between makeshift beds, garbage, and excrement left in plain sight." This is what regional councilor Corrado Meloni of the Brothers of Italy party wrote, calling out the city administration and Cagliari's local health authority for the "state of neglect of the historic center, particularly the Marina and Stampace neighborhoods."

"What was once the capital's high-class living room," adds the FdI representative, "is now a symbol of desolate urban and social decay. Yet, Mayor Zedda has his office just a few dozen meters from this unsightly spectacle. One wonders if he doesn't see it or if he's chosen to look the other way."

"Abandoning vulnerable people under the porticoes," Meloni continues, "doesn't mean welcoming them or respecting their dignity, but condemning them to marginalization without adequate health, social, and social care, placing the consequences on residents and business owners. Deterioration is not solidarity, and permanent shelter cannot be passed off as inclusion . Those paying the price are not just residents, but also business owners, professionals, and property owners. Deterioration drives away customers, tourists, and investments, pushes businesses to shut down, and devalues properties, making them increasingly difficult to rent or sell. Every business that closes means lost jobs, fewer services, and a further step toward the desertification of the historic center and increased insecurity for its residents."

"The Municipality and the Local Health Authority must explain what they are actually doing. The Local Health Authority must guarantee adequate care and pathways for the homeless, while the City Administration must clarify what interventions have been implemented by social services and why a serious and coordinated plan is still lacking," Meloni continues. She concludes: "We demand the restoration of decorum and safety, strengthened controls, and, above all, effective care pathways for the homeless. Cagliari cannot become an open-air dormitory nor witness the disappearance of its businesses and the devaluation of its real estate. Restoring dignity to vulnerable people, livability for its citizens, and an economic future for the historic center is not repression: it is good governance. This is precisely what is lacking today."

(Unioneonline)

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