Onderwerp

Onderwerp: [EuropeanAviationCampaigners] from the Viterbo "Preventive" Committee against the airport and for the reduction of the aviation sector

Dear friends, greetings from the "Committee working against the planned airport of Viterbo - and working to reduce the aviation", an ancient town near Rome, where a lot of greedy interests (busines, local institutions, central government) allied years ago to build a criminal and crazy project: a low cost airport, aimed at increasing the flights, an unsustainable project in this era of climate change! Moreover, the airport was to be built in an archaeological area, the Bullicame, quoted by Dante in the Divina Commedia.

Our "preventive" committee was born in August 2007. Days ago we celebrated in an ancient square of Viterbo our 3th birthday. And still no airport!!!

Our Committee worked in many directions, objecting at the project from various fronts: environment, climate, health, landscape and historical heritage. We suggested sustainable alternatives for the "development" of the area. We have been able to involve in our struggle many personalities, in Italy and elsewhere. We have been working closely with the other committees against airports (exiting or to-be) in Lazio Region.

We hope we will go further on our two fronts: 1) no airport in Viterbo, 2) "down to earth" (it is the name of our website: Coi piedi per terra), i.e. reduce the civil (not really civil...) aviation sector.

The Committee thanks Mr Armando Santo Spinella for his friendship and support and for his English translation of this statement and all the other documents appearing on the web-site www.coipiediperterra.org

ON AUGUST 5, IN VITERBO, IT TOOK PLACE THE DAY OF FÊTE AND COMMITMENT ON THE THIRD ANNIVERSARY OF THE BIRTH OF THE COMMITTEE AGAINST THE MEGA-AIRPORT AND THE REDUCTION OF AIR TRANSPORTATION

Thursday 5 August 2010, in Viterbo’s San Pellegrino Square it took place an initiative of reflection and of conviviality promoted by the committee which opposes the Viterbo mega-airport and commits to reduce air transportation, in order to protect the heath, the environment, the democracy and the rights of everyone.

The initiative was an occasion of fête for the third anniversary of the birth of the committee and for being able, during these three years, to efficaciously fight the senseless and illegal project of the mega-airport.

During the initiative there was a photo show reportage on the area of the Bulicame which also appeared last May in the prestigious National Geographic magazine; the photographer, Stefano Dal Pozzolo, participated to the manifestation and delivered a touching personal witness.

A theatrical performance of extraordinary intensity was realized by Antonello Ricci and by “La banda del racconto”, both authors of a pièce on the subject performed in the same medieval quarters of the city in the past year.

A video, with precious images and related music has further showed what kind of environmental and cultural possessions would irreversibly be devastated by the construction of the mega airport.

The evening started with a remembrance of Alfio Pannega, a historical figure of the popular and anti fascist Viterbo, among the founding members of the committee and a protagonist of so many of its initiatives, deceased in April 30, 2010.

Then, the Participants were informed about a message of greetings by the illustrious magistrate Ferdinando Imposimato who, since the beginning – as many other prestigious scientists and personalities of the culture, institutions and civil society – has been a supporter, and a mentor, of the committee with his big authority and his profound doctrine of luminous figure of moral and civil commitment for democracy and legality.

Obviously, a great number of people attended the fête; these people have animated not only the initiatives of the committee but in a more general way the mains fights of the last decenniums in the Alto Lazio, in defense of environment, health and of the rights of everyone: from the Professor Osvaldo Ercoli – a symbol for all the Viterbians of absolute moral and intellectual rigor - to Dr. Antonella Litta, the very generous speaker of the committee.

During the evening, as a way of reconstructing the history of the mobilization which all along these three years has stopped the construction of the mega-airport and has saved from destruction the naturalistic, archeological and thermal area of Bulicame, and as a way of confirming the total and necessary commitment for the reduction of air transportation, the following persons, among many others, have intervened:

- Peppe Sini , the person responsible of the “Centro di ricerca per la pace” ( Research for Peace Centre);

- Marinella Correggia, the prestigious essayist and environmentalist, a reference person at a national and international level, who has participated, since its inception, to the initiatives of the committee generously giving her friendship, wisdom and knowledge;

- Prof. Alessandro Pizzi, ex – Mayor of Soriano del Cimino, whose administrative competence and adamantine honesty are proverbial all over The Alto Lazio.

A relevant contribution to the initiative was given by the “Committee of the Viterbian farmers” committed, as well, against the mega-airport.

A further relevant contribution was given by the seized, auto managed Social Centre “Valle Faul”, protagonist of the movement and participant to the committee opposing the mega-airport since its birth (the committee, in fact, was born via an assembly which took place on July 24, 2007, exactly at the social centre).

A special thank was given to Mondino Chiricozzi, not only for his contribution to this initiative, but also to have been among the animators of the movement of the citizens, in Caprarola as well as in Ronciglione, which is fighting for the right to health of the population, for the defense and the reclamation of the lake of Vico, against the pollution of the lake waters and against the “rubber wall” of irresponsible administrators for

a long time accomplices of a strategy of under evaluation, manipulation and of an attempt to throw the investigations off the track; they stupidly try to hide the truth on the drama of the situation and allow its further deterioration whereas, on the contrary, it was necessary, since a long time now, to adopt the right and urgent measures which were repeatedly indicated by the “Italian Association of Doctors for the Environment”.

The evening ended up with a moment of happy conviviality, by consuming the same food among the persons participating to the initiative which, therefore, had at the same time a character of civil commitment, of awareness and of fête.

During the initiative, it was underlined the fact of having been able, all along these three years, to block every concrete act of material realization of the foolish and illegal mega-airport wanted by a speculative and vandal lobby with the complicity of ignorant, irresponsible and corrupted administrators; this was possible both for the quality of the action of the committee (in the long term history of the main animators there are the victorious experiences of the opposition to the nuclear project at Montalto di Castro and to the senseless motorway project of the Supercassia) and for the methodology constantly followed: have a total vision of the question, be precise and concrete in our intervention, lever on the extraordinary resource of the choice of non violence.

In the speech which opened the meeting the first words have in facts been: “When they ask us how we have been successful all along these three years in preventing the construction of the mega-airport, we simply answer: with the force of truth”.

The force of the truth, an expression which also is the literal Italian translation of the expression with which Mohandas Gandhi defined his proposal of nonviolent fight for the salvation of humanity and the respect of the living world adopting the term of Sanskrit origin “satyagraha”: the force of truth.

It will moreover suffice to remind how much the committee, in these three years, was able to make known and to understand and share with the local and national public opinion, to be precise:

1. The construction of a harmful, destructive and outlaw mega-airport in the heart of the Bulicame area would have as immediate and disastrous consequences: a) the eyesore of the Bulicame area and of the environmental and cultural possessions that are there; b) the devastation of the agriculture of the surrounding zone; c) the hindrance of the social and therapeutic stepping up of the thermal resources; d) a very heavy chemical, acoustic and electromagnetic pollution which will result in a strong damage to the health and the quality of life of the local population (the area is moreover in the neighborhoods of densely populated quarters of the city); e) the collapse of the infrastructural network of the Alto Lazio, already aggravated by heavy bonds; f) a colossal squandering of public money; g) a flagrant violation of European and Italian laws and of the bonds of safeguard pertinent to the territory;

2. That precious area of the Bulicame must instead be protected in the most adequate manner: by creating a naturalistic, archeological and thermal park; and by immediately repelling each and every speculative, polluting, devastating, illegal act;

3. Viterbo and the Alto Lazio are urgently in need of a adequate and sustainable mobility at the service of the population, by improving first of all the railways; a mobility which is coherent with a development model which does not destroy but protect and give value to the cultural and environmental belongings, to the authentic productive vocations and the true civil traditions of the territory;

4. It is furthermore necessary to commit ourselves to the total reduction of air transportation which contributes in a big way to the pollution which results in the overheating of the climate, the main environmental and planetary emergency;

5. In particular, we must energically support the other city committees which from Ciampino to Fiumicino and to many other places in Italy and in Europe and in the World fight to defend the environment, the health, the human rights of all human beings, for the legality and the democracy, with the force of truth, with the nonviolence choice.

The committee thanks all those that have participated to the August 5 initiative and, generally, all those during these three years have given their contributions to stop the construction of the mega-airport, thus saving – for the present and for the future generations – the precious area of the Bulicame, a patrimony of mankind, from an irreversible, malicious devastation.

The Committee that opposes the mega-airport in Viterbo and that is committed to the reduction of air transportation to defend health, environment, democracy and the rights of everyone.