After Bari, Giorgia Meloni makes surprise visit to Policoro to inspect storm damage

Three days after a violent storm swept through Policoro, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni arrived in the southern town to see the damage firsthand and offer the government’s support.

The September 2 downpour, accompanied by a tornado and powerful wind gusts, struck the town center, the seafront and surrounding farmland within minutes. The weather also affected other parts of the Metapontino area. Initial estimates put the damage at several million euros.

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I am here because the government wants to do its part. I came to understand the situation, but also to congratulate this area because there was an immediate desire and ability to roll up its sleeves and do what was possible. That does not always happen, so congratulations.

Meloni visited tourism businesses along the seafront with Basilicata Governor Vito Bardi and Policoro Mayor Enrico Bianco. “I am here because the government wants to do its part. I came to understand the situation, but also to congratulate this area because there was an immediate desire and ability to roll up its sleeves and do what was possible,” she said.

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show that southern Italy could become Italy’s locomotive

The prime minister then broadened her message from emergency assistance to the future of southern Italy. She said her government had worked on the Mezzogiorno from the beginning of the legislative term, rejecting both clientelism and the idea that the South is simply a problem to solve. Her stated goal, she said, was to show that southern Italy could become “Italy’s locomotive.”

Meloni cited infrastructure investment and the Single Special Economic Zone, which she said had generated 60 billion euros in investment on its own. She also said gross domestic product and employment in the South were growing faster than the national average. The next priority, she added, was addressing the number of young people leaving the region. Bardi thanked her for seeing the area’s “wound” in person and said the visit showed a government responding quickly during an emergency.

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to touch the wound of our territory firsthand