'Prevent criminal infiltration of earthquake reconstruction'

A never-healed wound that reaches to the very heart of the country, opened by the fault that inflicted the heaviest toll on the town of Amatrice in the Central Italy earthquake of August 24, 2016, with 237 of the 299 total victims. After so much time, only one certainty can alleviate the difficult period of reconstruction: in these nine years, criminals have failed to gain control of public contracts, projects, and tenders.

The Anti-Corruption Authority (ANAC) has been monitoring the situation, with its president Giuseppe Busia listing the numbers for the recovery of those areas: "To prevent criminal infiltration in the reconstruction, ANAC has supported and continues to support the projects carried out by the Extraordinary Commissioner for the Reconstruction of the 2016 earthquake," with the "preventive control of 1,147 different procurement procedures for a total value of almost €2 billion, equal to approximately 42.2% of the €4.6 billion investment made available by the Commissioner between ordinary and special programming. In total," Busia explains, "4,054 opinions were issued, 2.2 per working day. Each procedure required, on average, the preparation of 3.5 opinions. From 2021 to June 30, 2025, the number of procedures examined is 706 (61% of the total) and the total number of opinions issued is 2,844 (70% of the overall total)".

Among the tender documents for particularly significant projects recently reviewed by ANAC, noteworthy are those for the repair and seismic retrofitting of the Teramo Prefecture, worth nearly €7.5 million; the framework agreement for complementary technical services for the restoration of buildings in the historic center of the municipality of Accumoli, worth approximately €15 million; the construction of the emergency medical facility serving the "Profili" hospital in Fabriano, worth approximately €17 million; and the seismic retrofitting of the Norcia Carabinieri barracks, worth approximately €5.8 million.

"As part of the reconstruction effort following the 2016 earthquake that struck the Marche, Umbria, Lazio, and Abruzzo regions, we can say that since 2023, we've seen a significant improvement, with 12,000 private reconstruction projects completed, 8,500 underway, and approximately €10 billion in contributions to earthquake victims who have finally begun to return home in recent years," explains Guido Castelli, the Government's Special Commissioner for Reconstruction. He recalls that "over the last three years, 4,000 families have returned to their homes. This has enabled a trend that now involves €1.5 billion in severance payments to businesses working on construction sites and homes, municipal projects, and something like €1.5 billion in public works that are about to begin in 2024 alone." In any case, he continues, "10,000 families are currently still out of their homes, 6,000 of them in the Marche region: certainly still too many."

Castelli reflects that the picture thus far "is not homogeneous, because those most devastated municipalities are still suffering," like Amatrice, where "we have been making up ground over the last two and a half years with teamwork." Between the night of Saturday the 23rd and Sunday the 24th, vigils, ceremonies, and moments of reflection will be held in the three towns devastated by the August 24th earthquake: Amatrice, Accumoli, and Arquata del Tronto.