"The debate on healthcare, which will be at the center of today's City Council meeting, raises a series of questions that are difficult to resolve. Regarding the investments allocated for the construction of the new hospital, after the signing of Dulbecco's corporate act, the commissioner ad acta Occhiuto was clear in reiterating that all resources already allocated for Catanzaro will not be touched, also emphasizing the intention to assert contractual leverage with Inail to obtain additional funds for healthcare construction.
The issue that the City Council now intends to address concerns the choice of where to locate the new hospital. On one side, there is a motion that aims to commit the mayor and the commissioner to identify the site in the area between the Pugliese and the Ciaccio, redeveloping and strengthening the existing facilities in the northern part of the city, where the hospital also plays an important role for the local economic fabric. On the other hand, many emphasize the opportunity to focus on the Germaneto area, a strategic hub where the university hospital is located and which, due to its location and logistics, would lend itself to further infrastructural interventions. A decision that is not easy to make and that will impact future urban planning, involving interests and motivations that politics alone will not be able to resolve, risking a deadlock. My proposal, therefore, is to also involve citizens in the directions to be taken, to understand the mood of the people and make the community part of such an important decision. The municipal statute provides for the possibility of calling a consultative referendum, on the initiative of the councilors themselves, also supported by citizens' requests. This is the proposal I intend to share with my colleagues in the Assembly, a tool rarely used that, in this circumstance, can really make sense to enhance in order to guide political decisions on a topic, such as health, on which all citizens can and must have the right to speak.”
Statement by city councilor Sergio Costanzo.