Sicily: the Region raises the fund for the territories from 50 to 174 million. In Niscemi, after the landslide, the money goes to the stadium's press area
30 October 2026, 20:53
At the end of January a landslide swallowed houses, streets and squares in the historic centre of Niscemi, in the province of Caltanissetta, and 1,500 residents had to leave their homes. The national government has set aside €150 million, but reconstruction and safety works are slow to restart. Meanwhile, with the law approved on 22 October, the Sicilian Region has earmarked €250,000 for the town to refurbish the press area of the municipal stadium.
The money comes from the Fund for Territorial Investment, which the regional government had proposed at the beginning of October to finance works by municipalities and church bodies. It was meant to be worth 50 million, and the rule allowed the Sicilian Regional Assembly (ARS) to choose the individual projects itself through an order of the day, that is, by a vote of the chamber, instead of through a public call open to all. In the budget changes approved at dawn on 22 October, after a sitting of more than twenty-one hours, the fund rose to €174.3 million. The regional government had presented it as a tool to reduce the differences in development between the areas of the island. To close them, in the approved list, there are padel courts, tennis courts and five-a-side football pitches.
The list also includes swimming pools, riding stables, churches, cloisters and provincial roads; part of the money goes to municipalities where some regional deputies also hold elected office. The mayor of a small town near Palermo publicly thanked one regional minister for the church, a deputy for the padel court and another regional minister for the road. In 2027 Sicily goes back to the polls to elect its regional government.
A criterion had been proposed. In the Budget Committee an opposition deputy had tabled a rule giving each municipality an amount set according to its population, to protect the smallest towns too. The majority rejected it at once. Under that rule, every mayor would have known in advance how much was due; without it, they find out by reading the list.
The €174.3 million comes out of the Region's budget, that is, out of the taxes and revenue that belong to all Sicilians, including the evacuees of Niscemi. It goes to the municipalities and church bodies chosen by the chamber. An opposition movement has written to the head of State and to the Prime Minister asking for the law to be challenged before the Constitutional Court: in its view, the funds were distributed without any «comparative procedure, call for proposals or objective criterion set in advance». According to the regional government's report, the fund was also meant to protect public assets. In Niscemi, what needs making safe is the houses of the historic centre.
One question remains for the regional government and the ARS: by what criterion, written down before the vote, does a town with 1,500 evacuees receive money for the stadium press area and not for its houses?
The fund more than tripled in just over two weeks. The reconstruction of Niscemi has been waiting for nine months.
This article was prompted by a news item published in Il Fatto Quotidiano on 30 October 2026.