Quake aid corruption scandal

Press, 30 August 1977, Page 8

Quake aid corruption scandal

By PAUL HOFFMAN of “New York Times” (through NZPA) Rome Italy is being shaken by a corruption scandal involving reconstruction efforts in the Friuli region, in the north which was severely damaged by an earthquake last year. The catastrophe of May 6, 1976, killed more than 1000 people, injured 2500, and left about 100,000 homeless in the area north-east of Venice. Until recently, many Italians had the comforting feeling that rehabilitation work was prompt, efficient, and honest.

Immediately after the earthquake. Government appointed an under-secretary in the Interior Ministry, Mr Giuseppe Zamberletti, as special commissioner for disaster relief, with wide powers.

Public funds for assistance were made available quickly.

Local authorities were encouraged to shoulder responsibilities for reconstruction projects, using donations that were flowing in from the United States and European countries. Thousands of homeless people were relocated in resort hotels on the nearby Adriatic coast and fed in communal kitchens. But now this nation, which over the last several years has become inured to the smell of scandal, is realising that the clean-hands efficiency that it had thought was shown in the Friuli reconstruction may be a myth. Last week Guiseppe Balbo, the chief aide to the Government commissioner for Friuli relief, was arrested on charges of extortion, embezzlement, and corruption for allegedly having collected

kick-backs from a company that supplied prefabricated housing. The official, according to judicial sources, admitted he had accepted money from the prefab manufacturer, the Precasa Corporation of Savona, but asserted that the funds were used to help particularly needy earthquake victims. A judge is investigating allegations that all or some k’-k-backs were illegally turned over to local organisations of the Christian Democratic Party, the governing force that is traditionally strong in Friuli. ~® ar^er in August, the Mayor of the town of Maiano, where at least 130 inhabitants died in the earthquake, was arrested on similar charges. The Mayor, Girolamo Bandera, also is accused of hav-

ing taken cash from the prefab company. The scandal came first to light when the town council of Maiano rescinded a contract with the company, contending that the prefabricated houses it had furnished were shoddy and much more expensive than those offered by competitors.

The former Government commissioner for Friuli disaster relief, Mr Zamberletti, who is still a member of the Cabinet of the Prime Minister (Mr Giulio Andreotti), said last week that his first reactions to the arrest of his chief aide were despair, shock, surprise. Mr Zamberletti added, however, that the grave scandal should not tarnish the positive image of an administration that in the Friuli emergency has proved efficient.