BOLZANO. How is it possible that 900 square meters of state property, at 2734 meters above sea level, just under the western face of the Catinaccioin a corner of paradise in the heart of the Dolomites UNESCO heritage, are sold to a private individual for the paltry sum of 27,450 euros? And how is it possible that a land parcel becomes a building parcel and then, in place of the old and small, the new and futuristic one arose Santner refuge? Questions that, a couple of years ago, after the question presented in the provincial council by the leader of TeamK, Paul Köllenspergermany people in Alto Adige had asked. There had been many protests by environmental associations, by the CAI and by many ordinary citizens. 55 thousand signatures had also been collected against the “sellout of the Dolomites” and Köllensperger had also filed a complaint with the Court of Auditors. Silence seemed to have fallen on the matter. But that was not the case. Taking inspiration from the great echo given to the matter by the media and the complaint by TeamK, the military personnel of the Economic and Financial Police unit of the Fiamme Gialle have started an investigation into that operation, with the hypothesis that the price paid by the private company would not be consistent and much lower than the market price. Now, on the basis of what has emerged, the Public Prosecutor’s Office of the Court of Auditors of Bolzano he quantified in 600 thousand euros the damage caused to the Province from that sale and sent two managers of the Province itself an invitation to deduct. The conduct contested by the judicial accounting authority concerns the sale price, those 27,450 euros, linked to the application of the price of 30 euros per square meter established for unproductive land. According to the investigations of the Finance Police, the public managers now called to answer for the hypothesis of damage to the treasury would have been fully aware, from the first contacts with the company interested in the purchase, of the intention to expand the Santner refuge, built in 1956 on land of the Municipality of Tires, and increase its volume. This circumstance should have induced them to ask the Valuation office for a new estimate of the sale price, which should have considered that land not as unproductive, but as “buildable”. For this reason, the accounting prosecutor’s office accuses them of having intentionally agreed to sell an asset of the unavailable assets of the Province at a price far lower than its real value, without asking for a further estimate appropriate to the nature of the land. The invitation to provide deductions notified to the two managers also serves as a formal notice and an invitation to pay the amounts due.
Köllensperger all’attacco
“You arrive when the damage has already been done – thunders the councilor of the TeamK – but I hope this will serve as a deterrent for the future. My regret is that the request for compensation has reached two bureaucrats and not the entire provincial council of the previous legislature or in any case those who, at the time, voted in favor of the sale. It is worth noting that the same company to which the 900 meters were sold off, a short distance away, had bought about 200 meters of land, the old structure and the cableway, paying 460 thousand euros for them». Köllensperger recalls how, on two occasions, his bill to prevent new transfers of state-owned land in protected areas was rejected by the SVP. «We are faced with a matter managed entirely by the SVP and my bill would have bothered them. And I must say that the silence of the Unesco Foundation was also to blame».
Zanella satisfied
Charles Albert Zanellapresident of the Cai Alto Adige, welcomes the intervention of the Prosecutor’s Office of the Court of Auditors, but regrets that two officials are paying. “If I were them, I would have evaluated better – explains Zanella – but it is clear that behind them there is an entire system and everything had already been foreseen. What is certain is that now, after the investigation of the Finance and the intervention of the Court of Auditors, a clear limit has been set. Certain operations will no longer be allowed and we associations will watch over them severely. We will no longer let anything pass”.
(photo Santnerpass.com)
2024-09-22 19:13:25