The mayors of Sarrabus holding hands, along with hundreds of residents, on the dirt ford of the Flumendosa. This morning's large-scale protest—yet another—is aimed at denouncing the shameful state of the iron bridge between Villaputzu and Muravera. The bridge has been closed for 1,023 days. "We can say without fear of contradiction," reiterated Antonio Congiu, president of the committee that organized the protest, "that we have been plunged into the Third World for three years now, ever since the bridge was closed. And we have found ourselves at the center of a perfect storm, with a thousand buck-passings of responsibility. We ask all authorities, each within their own jurisdiction, to do everything possible to reopen the bridge."
The picture is grim: in three years, only 8.6 percent of the work has been completed (work that should have been completed in 540 days). The Sicilian company that won the contract was removed from the Metropolitan City for non-compliance, and now the contract is being awarded to the second-placed Sardinian company based in Cagliari. "I am here to represent my community," said Villaputzu Mayor Pierpaolo Piu, "but I must reiterate that the right place to protest is the Sardinia Region."
Joining Piu were the mayor of Muravera, Francesca Mattana, the mayor of San Vito, Marco Antonio Siddi, and Eugenio Murgioni of Castiadas, "because this," the mayors emphasized, "is a problem that affects the entire area." Therefore, "we are ready," Mattana clarified, "to initiate and support, in the appropriate forums, any action to protect a right that has been intolerably denied for over a thousand days, with significant and objective repercussions on our community's economy."
