Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK

CORRUPTION

Fourteen arrested in Venice corruption racket

Italian police on Friday placed 14 people under house arrest as part of a major investigation into alleged corruption in contracts to build a giant water barrier to protect Venice from flooding.

Published: 12 July 2013 12:25 CEST
Fourteen arrested in Venice corruption racket
Fourteen people are under house arrest over alleged corruption involving Venice building contracts. Photo: Eoghan OLionnain

Among those detained was Giovanni Mazzacurati, the director until last month of the consortium that is building the long-delayed multi-billion-euro project, along with several current members of the consortium and contractors.

He is suspected of "distorting" public tenders for the construction and favouring particular companies, the police said in a statement.

One part of the investigation also focussed on shell companies used to produce receipts for work that was never carried out.

Financial police said that they staged dozens of raids in Venice and other parts of Italy and were investigating a total of around 100 people.

Venice began construction in 2003 of mobile barriers at the mouth of its lagoon to protect the city from rising sea levels and the phenomenon of "high water" caused by currents and tides which floods the city every year.

The project, known by its acronym as "Mose" (Moses) is costing around €5.4 billion and is scheduled for completion in 2014.

The barriers will lie on the sea floor and be raised on their hinges with air pressure to block the tidal flow if the waters rise.

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.

VENICE

Italy to pay €57m compensation over Venice cruise ship ban

The Italian government announced on Friday it would pay 57.5 million euros in compensation to cruise companies affected by the decision to ban large ships from Venice's fragile lagoon.

Published: 3 December 2021 17:41 CET
A cruise ship in St Mark's Basin, Venice.
The decision to limit cruise ship access to the Venice lagoon has come at a cost. Photo: Miguel Medina/AFP

The new rules, which took effect in August, followed years of warnings that the giant floating hotels risked causing irreparable damage to the lagoon city, a UNESCO world heritage site.

READ ALSO: Venice bans large cruise ships from centre after Unesco threat of ‘endangered’ status

Some 30 million euros has been allocated for 2021 for shipping companies who incurred costs in “rescheduling routes and refunding passengers who cancelled trips”, the infrastructure ministry said in a statement.

A further 27.5 million euros – five million this year and the rest in 2022 – was allocated for the terminal operator and related companies, it said.

The decision to ban large cruise ships from the centre of Venice in July came just days before a meeting of the UN’s cultural organisation Unesco, which had proposed adding Venice to a list of endangered heritage sites over inaction on cruise ships.

READ ALSO: Is Venice really banning cruise ships from its lagoon?

Under the government’s plan, cruise ships will not be banned from Venice altogether but the biggest vessels will no longer be able to pass through St Mark’s Basin, St Mark’s Canal or the Giudecca Canal. Instead, they’ll be diverted to the industrial port at Marghera.

But critics of the plan point out that Marghera – which is on the mainland, as opposed to the passenger terminal located in the islands – is still within the Venice lagoon.

Some aspects of the plan remain unclear, as infrastructure at Marghera is still being built. Meanwhile, smaller cruise liners are still allowed through St Mark’s and the Giudecca canals.

Cruise ships provide a huge economic boost to Venice, but activists and residents say the ships contribute to problems caused by ‘overtourism’ and cause large waves that undermine the city’s foundations and harm the fragile ecosystem of its lagoon.

SHOW COMMENTS