Over 150 old olive trees are charred to the roots. The chickens were burned, the dog was badly injured in the fire. Emanuele Feltri (38) from Sciddicuni near Paternò (I) can just stop the flames before they jump to his farm. “Ten years of work have been destroyed,” complains the organic farmer. But the Sicilian does not believe in force majeure. “The fires broke out in seven different places at the same time,” says the farmer and expresses his suspicions: “It is no coincidence. The mafia was at work there. “
There are solid interests behind the arson
Emanuele Feltri has been fighting a bitter private fight against the criminal waste disposal in his valley for years, repeatedly reporting Mafiosi. Perhaps the mafia wanted to torch their illegal landfills. The President of the Sicilian Anti-Mafia Commission Claudio Fava (64) does not rule out revenge or intimidation either: “In the past, the Cosa Nostra sent cartridges, today it sets fire!” The mafia has a hand in many fires, the politician assumes. There are also solid interests behind this, especially in the center of Sicily, in provinces such as Enna and Caltanissetta, where the hunt for land for lucrative photovoltaic systems is being made. Fires are also set in order to extort the «Pizzo» (the protection money).
In a press conference, Claudio Fava says: “It is not barbecues or dry bushes that set fire to our forests. 98 to 99 percent of them are arsonists! ” The annual regional plan for fire prevention and fire protection lists the main reasons for arson: fires should clear the fields of weeds, forest and groves of trees so that they can be used as pastureland. There is also the “fire industry”. Fires create jobs in the extinguishing and sighting of sources of fire and in the subsequent reforestation. One or the other day laborer helps out.
Only four percent of the fires have natural causes
Italy’s Environment Minister Roberto Cingolani (59) confirms the high proportion of arsonists in the fire disaster. In July, over 70 percent of all fires on the holiday islands of Sicily and Sardinia were human hands, and almost 58 percent of the fires were started with intent, the politician said. For the WWF, 96 percent of the fires in the Mediterranean are caused directly by humans, whether negligently or deliberately. Only four percent of the fires have natural causes.
The environmental protection organization “Legambiente Sicilia” is calling for countermeasures. Burned land should not be allowed to graze or build on for 10 to 15 years after the fire. President Gianfranco Zanna’s appeal: “We have to stop the vicious circle at last! Otherwise we will have the fires anew every year. ”