Military exercises, stop to compensation for fishing stops: protest mounts in Sulcis

The controversy over military exercises in Sardinia does not stop. The fishermen of Sulcis are now making their voice heard, as their compensation is blocked due to the stoppage of their activities due to training operations at the Capo Teulada range, in the south west of the island. The problem would be linked to the blocking of the IT platform through which municipalities can pay compensation to fishing operators. Already in a state of agitation, they say they are ready to protest on land or at sea, as early as next week.

«We are in the dark about everything and we don't know what caused this situation even if some rumors about the blocking of funds continue to circulate – explains Luciano Marica, one of the Sulcis fishermen and historic standard-bearer of the claims of the Sulcis maritime operators -. The reports with the subdivision of the resources arrived at the end of June and normally the funds are liquidated in about a month (about 18 thousand euros per individual embarked in the marinas of Teulada and Sant'Anna Arresi, ed.) but this time it was not like that".

And if the payments do not arrive immediately, explains Marica, «the jobs of over 400 people will be put at risk and we will talk about it again in 2024 with the risk of seeing that money taxed twice, as already happened in the early 2000s. We are waiting for a response as soon as possible from the Ministry of Defense".

For the national president of Unci AgroAlimentare, Gennaro Scognamillo, «it is not acceptable that for bureaucratic reasons, linked to disputes between the Ministry of Defense and personnel in its service or heirs of the same, certainly equally legitimate, the operators of a fundamental economic sector, already significantly exposed to the economic and structural problems of the sector. A paradoxical situation which causes enormous inconvenience to the numerous workers involved in fishing activities and their families, as well as causing considerable damage to the businesses involved and to the entire production chain in the area."

(Unioneonline)