The presentation of Italy's official candidacy to host the Einstein Telescope , a research infrastructure for the detection of gravitational waves which could have its ideal location in the disused mine of Sos Enattos , in Lula , has been postponed.
Scheduled for today in Rome, the presentation has been postponed to the next few weeks "due to institutional commitments related to the emergency situation underway in Emilia Romagna".
A project that thus opens for Italy, and Sardinia, the most important Olympics in a challenge with Holland, in the race with Limburg, a territory on the border with Belgium and Germany and not far from Maastricht.
The arrival on the island of the Einstein Telescope, according to Confartigianato Sardinia, would bring investments of a few billion euros to the island. "An even greater economic impact than the public investments of Milan-Cortina 2026 - is the reasoning of the President of Confartigianato Imprese Sardegna, Maria Amelia Lai - a unique opportunity that could bring economic, development and attractiveness benefits to the island for, at least, the next 40 years ». "If Italy has allocated 4.2 billion euros for the Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics - continues President Lai - for the gravitational wave detector that could be built in Sos Enattos, between state funds and European resources more than 6 and a half billion euros of investments, of which more than 4 would fall in Sardinia. Above all, in nine years ET will activate a total of 36,000 jobs».
«Lula would have the capacity to transform itself into the new Arecibo (Puerto Rico) or Atacama (Chile) – continues the president – the very famous astronomical observatories which have brought development, important economic and so much induced".
According to the analysis carried out by the Study Office of Confartigianato Imprese Sardegna, to understand the impact that the work could have on central Sardinia and, obviously, on the rest of the island, it is necessary to take as an example the multiplier effect envisaged for the Winter Olympics . In fact, according to recent estimates by CONI, every billion of investments in Milan-Cortina 2026 would have an impact of 3 billion on the national GDP: every euro of investment would generate 3 between direct, indirect and induced on the Sardinian and Italian economy . In Sardinia, every euro invested will result in a turnover of 3.6 euros and an increase in GDP of 1.6 euros .
According to the Association of Artisan Enterprises, there would be many enterprises involved in the activity that would gravitate around the large structure. Primarily those in construction (construction, infrastructure and installations), transport and earthmoving, mechanics and maintenance, digital services and high-tech as well as engineering and geology professionals.
To support the thousands of people who for at least 9 years will change the face and history of Sos Enattos, also the activities that deal with public transport, health, personal services, accommodation, catering and tourist services but also retail and leisure trade. Not to mention all the other realities (such as international schools) that will have to take care of the families of the researchers who will be destined for that enormous research and knowledge laboratory of the universe. And therefore the construction, maintenance and modernization of roads, bridges, railways but also of historical centres, houses, schools, hospitals, service and aggregation centres.
CONCERNS - On the contrary, for Organization of Companies of Sardinia, negative points are represented by activities with a low number of employees , with little ability to network and with insufficient economic power, not positive aspects for participating and winning tenders which, gradually, they will be proposed. The problem relating to the difficulty of finding employees with adequate training is also not secondary.
For Confartigianato Sardinia, in all this "ocean of possibilities" , the so-called "buffer zone" in which 19 municipalities between Sassari and Nuoro would fall, within which a series of activities that could interfere with the research activities of the interferometer: these include the construction of roads and railways, the production of electricity, the extraction of minerals from quarries and mines, all activities related to the production of cement, lime and plaster, and the activities of cutting, shaping and finishing of stones.
"According to the provision - continues the president - from now on the new authorizations to carry out the aforementioned activities will be issued by the competent administrations in agreement with the Ministry of University and Research after consultation with the National Institute of Nuclear Physics". "This leaves us very frightened - continues Lai - we remember that thousands of companies operate in that area , especially micro, small and medium-sized ones, which directly, indirectly and indirectly employ tens and tens of thousands of workers , supporting families and territories. It perplexes us why such a large protection area has been established around the Sos Enattos mine, which is currently poorly developed and lacking in infrastructure while competing areas in the project, such as Holland and Saxony, they are heavily more industrialised. It is worrying that this measure limits important prospects for strategic sectors such as the extraction of stone or the processing of concrete together with the whole complex of activities that gravitate around these activities".
(Unioneonline/vl)
