Let me start by saying that I live in Milan, I am a tired Inter fan and I love Rome very much. I don’t know if these are sufficiently aseptic references to express an opinion on the defeat suffered by the capital (and Italy) due to the non-granting of the 2030 universal exhibition: Thirty million spent to achieve only 17 preferences against 119 votes Riyadh, symbol of the rich Islamic dictatorship called Saudi Arabia It was given to . Even Busan in South Korea got more: 29 yes. But I am very glad to think of him as the majority of Romans who left en masse the kiosk set up in the center to await the final result: with the exception of Fabrizio Santori, leader of the League in the city council, and Tobia Zevi in ​​the centre. -Left councilor of the Inheritance, the remaining inhabitants of Rome were not there. They were all working and dealing with more important matters (pictured above, the ceremony dedicated to the Italian candidacy at the Hotel Plaza Athénée, one of the most exclusive places in Paris, on November 21, 2023 – photo Roma2030).

I must confess a precedent. I think I derailed Rome’s candidacy for the 2020 Olympics with a journalistic investigation in 2012. It was enough to list and photograph the cathedrals built and abandoned over time by various committees in the desert in the name of sports and major events: star architect Santiago Calatrava’s house in a neighborhood that began to collapse before it was even finished. swimming in swimming pools. Hundreds of millions of euros were thrown to the wind: more precisely, they were paid to builders, designers, practitioners, without the slightest benefit to the population. And without anyone paying for this waste of public money out of their own pocket. The article landed on the desk of then-prime minister Mario Monti, and perhaps that is why the head of government did not sign the declaration of support required for the capital’s candidacy.

Two million spent on committee headquarters (never finished)

But to bid for Expo 2030, 5-Star mayor Virginia Raggi had to say yes at a time when she still believed Romans would vote for her for a second term. But winking at political committees and cement owners did not help his reconfirmation. However, we know very well that politicians have been promising the moon in election campaigns since Totò’s legendary character Antonio La Trippa. The money to buy this is not theirs anyway.

Virginia Raggi’s defeat in the administrative elections should have shown her successor that the Expo was not among the Roman priorities. But the project unfortunately survived with the establishment of current mayor Roberto Gualtieri’s centre-left council (photo above, sporting the unfinished Citta dello), so it managed to fail on behalf of third parties. And thanks to the decision of the new administration, the city spent $30 million to support Rome’s good name in the meantime: in the hope of mobilizing the hundreds of millions needed to achieve Expo 2030 and complete (keep) urban transformation. Planning for evil in the recent past. Yes, big event sourcing is a bit like the famous chain letter. And we always come back to the name La Trippa.

But the story doesn’t end there. In fact, the citizens of Rome will continue (and so will we) to pay for the construction of the headquarters of the Expo 2030 promotion committee, which will not be delivered before January 2024 unless abandoned, like the Calatrava stadium. understood correctly. It was August 21, 2023, and while most of us were on vacation, Ginevra Nozzoli RomeToday He told us that Roberto Gualtieri’s council had allocated almost two million for the headquarters of the promotion committee, “which will be ready when it is no longer needed.” Additionally, in case of assignment, the committee would move from organizer to organizer and would need larger offices.

The price of the snowless winter Olympics will also come

Here is the news of the summer: “1 million 800 thousand euros were allocated from the budget for the reconstruction of the floor, flooring, suspended ceiling, fixtures, electrical and heating systems and the replacement of the elevator of a prestigious building with a view of the Trevi Fountain. It is at number 86 on Via della Stamperia. Considering that it took more than a year to get final approval for the studies, and that the publicity process required to highlight the Eternal City’s candidacy is now underway, it could be said that it is not a strange thing, at least if it were not for the strange timing. “starts from the end”. After all, what is 1 million 800 thousand euros or 30 million euros compared to infinity? By the rest of the article RomeToday You can read it here.

Only an overly optimistic approach to public money can convince one that Italy, after winning the Expo held in Milan in 2015, will repeat this in Rome 2030. But there is no reason to remain calm anymore: In less than 800 days, Milan and Cortina will host the Winter Olympics. Making Milan the capital of skiing is like giving Riyadh the role of a universal city. In 2022, the Saudi dictatorship carried out 196 death sentences: the highest number in the last 30 years; Three times more than in 2021 and seven times more than in 2020 (Amnesty International). In fact, it could increase tenfold between now and 2030.

The operations of the Expo and the Olympics, as well as the super bonus façades or the bridge over the Strait of Messina, are linked by the same thread: Politics continues to support the cement lobbies from left to right, while the rest of Italian industry, research and education are abandoned to their fate (second from the right in the photo above, president of the Lombardy Region Attilio Fontana carries the Olympic flag in Milan). So while we await the January opening of the useless headquarters of the Rome municipality’s lost Expo committee, we mere mortals have no choice but to queue up for the daily news.

As Veronica Sauchelli tells us RomaToday File: To get a medical examination in the metropolis, which does not have public clinics, you have to go to Viterbo. Meanwhile, the city is now overflowing with tourists who do not know where to put it: more than 13 million visitors at the beginning of summer, breaking all records before and after the epidemic. Without spending 30 million on expensive committees, history books would be enough to promote the capital: Colosseum, Imperial Forums, Vatican Museums, St. Peter’s… For many students, while in Milan, the Winter Olympics have already started. After the heavy rains in the autumn and water leaking from the roofs, the suspended ceilings of the classrooms became unsafe. The Ministry, the State, the Region and the Municipality do not have the money to pay for the repairs. And for a month, girls and boys compete every morning to find a seat in the classroom.

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