Funding has been requested to complete the PDO agri-food hub
Agrorinasce is spearheading the regeneration of the former Sandokan estate. Minister Foti: “If there is a project, we will do our bit”
Work is progressing on the regeneration of the “La Balzana” centre, the largest property complex confiscated from the Camorra in Italia, which is set to become the Agri-Food Park showcasing the Campania Region’s traditional specialities; however, in order to complete it, funding is still needed for the final phase – phase 5 – amounting to 15.5 million, which is the portion earmarked for the cultivation of local specialities. Agrorinasce, the company that has spearheaded the conversion of the confiscated property, and the Municipality of Santa Maria la Fossa, where the large estate is located, are calling on the government to approve the final tranche of funding.
They did so at an event held yesterday, entitled “Cohesion Policies and Confiscated Assets”, attended by, amongst others, the Minister for Cohesion Policies, Tommaso Foti, and the Under-Secretary of State for the Interior, Wanda Ferro, the Public Prosecutor of Naples, Nicola Gratteri; the Director of the National Agency for Assets Seized and Confiscated from Organised Crime, Maria Rosaria Laganà; and the Special Commissioner, Paola Spena. They were welcomed by the Mayor of Santa Maria La Fossa, Nicolino Federico; the President of Agrorinasce, Maria Antonietta Troncone; and the Chief Executive of Agrorinasce, Giovanni Allucci.
Minister Foti accepted the invitation. “Confiscated assets cannot be regarded as assets whose existence ends with the confiscation order,” he said, “but it is at that very moment that the asset must be given a new lease of life through repurposing – something that is already evident here at Balzana. And if there is a detailed design for the fifth lot as well, we will do our bit.’
La Balzana, once owned by Francesco Schiavone – known as ‘Sandokan’ – and Francesco Bidognetti, believed to be the leaders of the Casal di Principe Camorra clan, is an agri-food centre comprising around 200 hectares of land, dwellings and rural buildings. The property was confiscated from the clans and allocated to the municipality of Santa Maria La Fossa (Caserta) in 2017; according to the project promoted by Agrorinasce, it is set to become a large regional agri-food park dedicated to agricultural production, processing, training, research, hospitality and rural tourism.
A project that aims to transform one of the symbols of the Camorra’s economic power into a place of development and lawfulness, and which was the first ‘exemplary project’ approved by the National Working Group for the National Strategy for the Development of Confiscated Assets through Cohesion Policies.
