Pitch

The project "Completion works of 14 housing units in the Gesù area in the municipality of Crotone" falls under the European Regional Development Fund, 2014-2020 programming cycle. The programming entity is the Calabria Region; the implementing body and beneficiary is the Territorial Agency for Public Residential Construction in Calabria. The specific objective of the project, never completed due to administrative issues and the illegal occupation of the housing units, is to reduce the number of families, particularly those facing social and economic vulnerabilities, living in housing distress. Planned renovation works included installing thermal insulation panels, electrical, water, and heating systems, as well as external improvements.

In 2020, as reported by the mayor of Crotone, Voce, six families occupied the social housing units on via G. La Pira, which were still uninhabitable due to ongoing construction works by the contractor awarded the contract, which is reported to be 2c Costruzioni. This company, as reported by journalist Antonio Anastasi from Quotidiano del Sud, recently became the focus of the Glicine-Acheronte investigation by the Dda of Catanzaro. Its de facto administrator, accused of bid rigging with mafia involvement due to alleged ties with the Trapasso and Megna crime families, has been banned from contracting with the public administration. The project remains unfinished to date.

The failure to complete the project is another negative signal in one of the most challenging areas of the city of Crotone, which, as many citizens have stated, strongly feels the need for legality. The housing units on via Giorgio La Pira are located between the area settlement of via Acquabona, notoriously at the center of numerous judicial investigations, and Fondo Gesù, an area with a high rate of juvenile crime. The current municipal administration's choice to create a registry of active citizenship seems to be the best solution not only to continue monitoring but also to promote active citizen participation in public life and the protection of those common assets that serve as vehicles for social cohesion.