The controversy

Migrants in Albania, 9 million to house 300 agents

Numbers that have triggered the inevitable political controversy with the secretary of Più Europa, Riccardo Magi, accusing Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni of getting the accounts wrong again. Sources at the Viminale, however, explain that 'the amount of 9 million euros represents the maximum estimated expenditure in the event that the entire quota of supervisory personnel envisaged is used' and that 'the choice of facilities was made taking into account the standards indicated by union agreements'.

1 November 2024

2' min read

Nine million euro per year. This could be the cost of board, lodging and services for the 300 Italian police officers employed in the Shengjin and Gjider migrant centres in Albania.

An expense that includes the rental of four-star hotel facilities with accommodation in single rooms, catering and related services.

Numbers that have triggered the inevitable political controversy with the secretary of Più Europa, Riccardo Magi, who accuses the premier Giorgia Meloni of having miscalculated again 'even on the detention centres for migrants in Albania'.

For Avs group leader Filiberto Zaratti in the Constitutional Affairs Committee of the Chamber of Deputies, 'the CPR affair in Albania looms more and more every day as a national scandal wanted by the Meloni government and managed by the hand of Interior Minister Piantedosi'.

Sources at the Viminale explain, however, that 'the amount of 9 million euro represents the maximum estimated expenditure in the event that the entire quota of supervisory personnel is used' and that 'the choice of facilities was made taking into account the standards indicated in the trade union agreements'.

In any case, this is a minimal expense compared to the costs of the entire Albania operation.

The Minister of the Interior Matteo Piantedosi himself provided the figures in response to a question time at the Chamber of Deputies on 16 October: 'The planned allocation, which may even be higher than the actual costs, refers to a five-year period and consists of 134 million euro per year'. According to the minister, this is 'an investment' that will make it possible to lower the expenses for the management of the first extraordinary reception, 'which today are around 1.7 billion per year'.

The protocol entrusting the housing service is valid for 12 months and was approved on 5 August. The daily cost per agent is 80 euros. In total, the expenditure is €8,897,200.

The contract was won by the company Rafaelo Resort in acceptance of a bid deemed 'congruous and corresponding to the needs of the administration'.

Before the contract was awarded, the Viminale carried out a series of checks to exclude that the facilities were linked to criminal circles. 'Having acknowledged the absence of hostile elements or communications,' the protocol reads, 'and in light of the documentary and investigative elements' collected, it is 'possible to proceed with the awarding of the tender' to the company.

However, the affair triggered the polemic of the secretary of the Uilpa Penitentiary Police Gennarino De Fazio. "The contracting company will provide the operators with two hotels with private beach, wellness centre, swimming pools and restaurant. All this while the Ministry of Justice, Department of Penitentiary Administration, continues to keep the members of the Penitentiary Police employed in the running of the penitentiary in Gjadër in prefabricated structures, in multiple rooms, without the most basic furnishings."

"The Giorgia Meloni who miscalculates with a calculator has succeeded in Albania in the feat of pitting the State Police against the Penitentiary Police," comments Green Europe spokesman and Green and Left Alliance MP, Angelo Bonelli.

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