Rome, Gualtieri: “The capital is wounded, the coffers are full and no money is spent”

“Rome, a wounded city, the coffers are full and no money is spent”. The former Minister of the Economy and candidate for mayor of Rome for the Pd Roberto Gualtieri at the ‘Corriere della Sera’ says so. “Will I focus on young people and skills – he says – Calenda? The challenge is three, we the right and the Rays”. “The Draghi government is working well – says Gualtieri – The data of the first quarter, in which we did better than France, Germany and Spain, show that the policy I conducted with the previous government has worked. Investments, construction, internal demand, service stability: behind there is the vitality of our companies but also the right choices at the macroeconomic level and in the mix of interventions. I see a positive continuity of the new government and an excellent job on vaccines and Recovery. This year I expect higher growth to 5% “.” Rome – he says – pays for the inadequacy of the Raggi and Alemanno administrations. For years there has been no planning and no investment. We have studied the budgets and the impressive figure is the amount of resources that Rome had and has, but remain unspent. What do I propose? The ability to design and execute the works must be strengthened – explains Gualtieri – even with dedicated structures and specific professionals. We need a simplified governance of a municipal companies and agencies, to operate transport, traffic, waste collection. It is also a growth engine: the circular economy needs technology and skills, an integrated transport system needs innovation, including digital. Then it is necessary to enhance the vocations of Rome: research and high technology industry, culture, artistic and audiovisual production, tourism, commerce, advanced services “. On the periphery” it is a priority to heal the wounds of inequality and exclusion, focusing on policies and infrastructures social, involving the third sector. Urban spaces must be redeveloped, so concreteness is needed, starting with projects to intercept the resources of the Recovery. Rome has the potential of a green and sustainable city, digital and creative, inclusive and open to the world. As Paris does, we will rethink spaces and functions to ensure fundamental services in all districts.2. “The Francesco Rutelli and Walter Veltroni administrations – he continues – have been the best in recent decades. Alemanno was given a budget in order and the zeroing of the debt decided by the government. After five years of disastrous management, it left him with a structural deficit of 550 million and the collapse of investments. Ignazio Marino has put the accounts back in order: a job finished in the paralysis of the current administration. Today there is the possibility of restarting. We can improve the quality and quantity of the services provided. An example? The Court of Auditors explains how the absence of investments in the renewal of the Atac fleet has caused maintenance costs to rise at the expense of the service “.