Sulcis reclamation, ten companies in the running

There is no lack of interest in calls for tenders for the environmental remediation of polluted areas. Neither are there any resources. Ten applications have been submitted to the 145-million euro call for tenders, financed with resources from the Just transition fund, to start the reclamation of industrial areas in the Sulcis Iglesiente region, and are currently being examined. These are projects aimed at remediation works and thus at the reuse of areas that were hitherto impracticable due to the presence of polluting elements. A small step forward that has to reckon with delays and a 'slow and in some cases cumbersome' bureaucratic system.

"Since we took office, we started immediately and we are now trying to make up for the delays," says Giuseppe Meloni, vice-president and regional councillor for Budget and Planning. "We activated a first call for bids, which expired in May and was dedicated to the reclamation of sites to be used for new economic activities, to which 10 applications were received, and which are currently being examined. Precisely because of the interest and participation, the Region has decided, "in agreement with the institutional and socio-economic partnership," to increase the available budget from EUR 80 million to EUR 145 million. "These are proposals that," he adds, "have in most cases an immediate cantierabilità and will therefore allow us to speed up spending and meet the objectives of the Jtf programme.

Precisely in order to take advantage of the resources provided by the Just transition fund, which for Sardinia are worth 367 million out of a total amount of 1.111 billion to be shared with Taranto, the municipal administrations concerned have asked for an extension of the deadlines, while the Region has presented the executive plan describing the implementation methods of the Sulcis Territorial Plan. "All of this," Meloni continued, "points out the need for a major reshaping of the actions planned and the specific financial allocations to better meet the needs expressed by the territory. And following this path, the Planning Department has also begun the process of setting up a round table with the Industry, Environment, and Labour Departments, the trade unions, and the economic and social partnership "to define the strategies and structure a proposal for an amendment to be submitted to the national management authority and the European Commission, which will better meet the needs of a territory that believes in this instrument and wants to take full advantage of the opportunities it offers".

Another step that has been taken concerns the approval of the implementation directives for support to the enterprise system, 'i.e. the framework,' Meloni further argues, 'of the implementation tools for aid to enterprises. An act that will enable the start-up of actions to support 'tangible and intangible business' investments, aimed at improving the competitiveness of the local economic fabric with a view to the diversification of the Sulcis Iglesiente economy and the right transition.

"These will be non-repayable grants to support the business development plans of existing companies and the creation of new ones," the vice president adds. "All sectors of activity will be eligible on the basis of and within the limits of the applicable regulations as well as the specific criteria provided by the JTF, through calls for tenders that will be activated according to the real needs of the territory.