Earthquake and reconstruction. Will we be able to escape the tunnel of corruption? (Photo)

POST-EARTHQUAKE RECONSTRUCTION OF CASA ITALIA –

I confess my weakness: for a few days now, I've been unable to read the newspapers, watch TV, or browse news websites, with their tragic images of the dead and the survivors—the living, even more victims than the deceased—of the August 23rd earthquake. There are moments when fleeing from shock is the only way, perhaps a bit lacking in courage and even cowardly, to avoid facing the weight of a mystery called Destiny.

ALSO READ: Without maintenance in Italy, 60 percent of old buildings are at high risk.

CASA ITALIA PROJECT –

That said, my cowardly horror is being compounded by a feeling of anger and indignation. I can already anticipate what will unfold in the coming days: we'll see a torrent of articles and TV reports with judicial inquiries, notices of investigation, all sorts of accusations from investigators, and likely a significant number of arrests. Someone will have to explain how it's possible to see a school built just two years ago in the midst of an earthquake zone crumble , or on what basis it's possible, still in an earthquake-prone area, to build houses with sand in 2000. At the same time, we'll witness a recurring theme about "Casa Italia," the government's mega-plan to begin remedying the devastation of construction, urban planning, and culture we've wrought in recent years.

RENZI'S MAXI HOUSING PLAN FOR ITALY –

I consider this plan an extraordinary opportunity for a country that for decades, while not spending a single euro on maintenance and prevention of land and buildings (both public and private), has so far spent 121 billion euros on earthquake emergencies . Much of this money could have been saved and better spent through prevention and maintenance.

During the earthquake, I was in Veneto, far from the epicenter. Do you know just how many buildings in this region are at risk from earthquakes? One in three . Fragile Italy, as Renzo Piano clearly stated (well done, Renzi, who consulted him on the "Casa Italia" project), can be restored within two generations. It's not a biblical timeframe; it's the price we're paying for decades of indifference. And it will take two to three billion euros a year—let's leave the numbers to the experts—but it's blessed money, investments by the country system that improve the quality of life and well-being of the population. And it's money that, in times of great crisis, becomes precious, indispensable for reviving the economy and achieving the growth—real, not fueled by waste—that we all need.

TO LEARN MORE: 24 schools are at seismic risk. Here's what to do.

CORRUPTION IN ITALY –

And yet, I'd like to try to say it with as little rhetoric as possible: even before plans, strategies, money, exemptions accepted by Brussels, or capable and effective men in the field, we need a strong preliminary gesture. A collective gaze, by the ruling class and the people, into the mirror from which the image of our most widespread and least treated evil emerges: mass corruption . Never write sentences before a court pronounces them, but the overall picture emerging from the collapses in the earthquake zones requires no special elaboration to be very clear. In a long, very long chain, a sequence of crimes has been committed, from corruption to forgery of public documents, to continue with a textbook list, which has imprisoned an entire territory in its self-destruction. Outside the law, and even common sense, and within the cesspool of illegality, homes, schools, hospitals, offices have been built and rebuilt. And even churches. Along with corrupt public officials, unscrupulous and ignorant politicians, and thieves of every ilk, many, too many, citizens, both aware and complicit in the devastation, have unfortunately joined forces. This is the Italy that is both a prisoner, a victim, and a perpetrator, of corruption. This is the Italy that must be rebuilt, before, during, and after the homes of the displaced poor.

AMATRICE FOLLOWING THE Dreadful Earthquake of August 24:

( Credits: Antonio Nardelli / Shutterstock.com)

TO KNOW MORE: Corruption accounts for 17 percent of all public waste.