Corruption, neglect and bureaucratic bungling has led to demise of Rome

Media Report news.au

IT’S regarded as the birthplace of Western civilisation, a city rich with culture and steeped in history.
But Rome, the Eternal City, is on the “verge of collapse”.

Despite being one of the ten biggest cities in Europe, receiving more than 10 million foreign visitors annually, the city almost went bankrupt last year.

The streets are a shambles, basic services in tatters and the main airport is partially closed.

Not only that but a European Commission survey from 2013 ranked Rome last out of 28 EU capitals for the efficiency of city services.

And despite its fine cuisine and sunny climate, Rome came second to last for quality-of-life satisfaction. Athens was bottom.

“Rome is on the verge of collapse,” Giancarlo Cremonesi, the president of the Rome Chamber of Commerce, told Reuters. “It is unacceptable that a major city which calls itself developed can find itself in such a state of decay.”

Years of neglect, corruption and bureaucratic bungling have taken its toll on this beautiful city which boasts the Colosseum, the Spanish Steps, the Pantheon and the Trevi Fountain.

While the major attractions continue to be restored (Trevi Fountain received $4.27 million makeover last year) the rest of the city is in a state of disrepair.

The Trevi Fountain during the restoration work in February 2015. PIC: EPA
The Trevi Fountain during the restoration work in February 2015. PIC: EPA Source: Supplied
Such is the outrage among locals, several blog sites and Facebook pages have popped up such as, Roma Fa Schifo (Rome Sucks) for those who want to voice their “indignation” and “complaints” about the “scandalous situation in the city of Rome”.

Residents post pictures and footage as evidence of the city’s demise.

Everything from cracks and holes in the roads, grass growing in-between bricks, vines sprawling and rubbish strewn across streets is featured. There is also ridiculous road configurations and even the emergence of rickshaws around popular tourist attractions.

Many are disgusted by homelessness in the city. Italy is in the midst of a migrant crisis with thousands of asylum seekers pouring into the country every month. Many try to make their way to other European countries, while others remain stuck in Rome after either being sent back or unable to leave.
Because they have nowhere to live, makeshift camps pop up in parks and piazzas across the city.
Local authorities and police try to clear the areas by moving the migrants on, however they return a few days later because they have nowhere else to go.

“It has got a lot worse in the last few years,” Costanza Cagni, who has lived in the city since 2000, told The Telegraph.

“Everybody moans but nobody offers any solutions. The quality of life has really gone down. I’m sorry to say it, but I just want to leave Rome and move somewhere else.”

Most blame the neglect on disorganised government and the high level of corruption.

In December, Italy was rocked by a major scandal involving the Mafia and those at the top of Roman politics.

While the country is no stranger to corrupt politicians, the perceived influence of the Mafia was thought to have been more in the south of the country.

The “Mafia Capitale” revelations have shown that organised crime is well and truly entrenched within the walls of Rome’s city hall.

Last year it emerged Rome was in debt to the tune of 14 billion euro (A$20.59 billion) but was rescued by state emergency funds.

Wiretap transcripts from the scandal revealed mobsters had siphoned off millions of euros from a string of lucrative contracts, covering everything from recycling paper to sheltering immigrants, Reuters reported.
Much of the alleged corruption dates back to the previous mayor, Gianni Alemanno, a former right-wing minister who is under investigation. He denies any wrongdoing.

Just this week, police raided a restaurant close to the Pantheon on suspicion that it was controlled by the ‘Ndrangheta’, the Calabrian mafia, The Telegraph reported.

While current Mayor Ignazio Marino has not been implicated in the ‘Mafia Capitale’ scandal, some of his staff have come under scrutiny, leading to a stream of resignations.

A Rome city hall source told Reuters an official review had recommended that around 30 major public contracts be annulled and re-offered for tender.

Mayor Marino was quoted in the Corriere della Sera newspaper saying Rome’s public administration was “substantially rotten”, according to Reuters.

“There is strenuous resistance to any type of change (here) ... but I will never give up,” he reportedly wrote in the paper.

Next year the Italian capital is set to be inundated with 25 million pilgrims answering Pope Francis’s call for an extraordinary Holy Year -- one of the Roman Catholic Church’s most important events.

The mayor’s office has yet to layout its strategy for coping with the influx, or earmark any funds to cover the cost.

It has put together a 500-strong taskforce of employees and volunteers to help clean up Rome’s neglected green spaces but for some it may not be enough.

“The prayers of the pope will not be enough. Here we need a miracle from the lord above for Rome to emerge in good shape,” Chamber of Commerce chief, Cremonesi said.

Hamas markets itself as moderate alternative to IS

Photo: Many Gazans say they are sick of living under Hamas rule. (ABC News: Sophie McNeill)

As Islamic State (IS) fighters move towards Gaza territory, fellow Islamist group Hamas is attempting to distance itself by marketing itself as a moderate alternative.

Last week, Islamic State fighters in Syria released a video labelling Hamas as an "enemy".
It is their latest attempt to cause unrest in Gaza, secure supporters and provoke the government into another confrontation with Israel.

The West sees Hamas as a radical Islamic group, intent on Israel's destruction, accused of war crimes and responsible for numerous terrorists attacks on Israeli civilians, but for IS they are nowhere near radical enough.

They see Hamas as infidels because they have not implemented sharia law in Gaza and they have agreed to a ceasefire with Israel.

Last month, Hamas shot dead an alleged IS leader at his apartment in Gaza City.

Dr Mkhaimar Abusada, a Professor of politics at Al-Azhar University in Gaza, has been following the presence of radical IS supporters in the strip, known as salafists.

"Hamas is having its own war against the salafists in the Gaza strip who are trying to destabilise security in the Gaza strip and or try to provoke Israel into another confrontation," Dr Abusada said.

"Hamas is trying to downplay the danger of these groups here in the Gaza strip.

"But in my opinion, whether salafists are in Iraq, Syria, Palestine, Sinai, Libya or any other place, they belong to the same ideology which is extreme or radical interpretations of Islam."

In January this year, more than 100 Gazans gathered outside the French cultural centre in Gaza to protest against the Charlie Hebdo cartoons of the prophet Mohammed.

Waving black IS flags, they chanted in favour of self-declared caliphate leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
Under Hamas, there are many restrictions on freedoms in Gaza, but it is no Mosul — the headquarters of IS — where even smoking is banned and all women have to be covered from head to toe.

Hamas sees the emergence of IS in the region as an opportunity to position itself as a moderate Islamist alternative.

"I think now is the time to understand that Hamas is not a radical group," Hamas spokesperson Ghazi Hamad said.

"Hamas is not extremists. Now they say 'what is the alternative?' It's like some radical groups like Al Qaeda, like Daesh. They try to spread like bloodshed everywhere and hatred everywhere."

But Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman Peter Lerner said Israel was not buying it.
"Their charter says that if you see a Jew hiding behind a tree you have to kill him," he said.
"So, frankly there really is no difference between Hamas and ISIS in that respect. They both see Israel as something that should cease to exist.

"For the military, from our perspective, we need to be prepared for that day, wether it's ISIS or Hamas.
"So clearly they are not a good neighbour. It doesn't mean necessarily that ISIS will be a better neighbour but this is the reality we face."

For Gazans — many who are sick of living under Hamas rule — the rise of another radical Islamist group is the last thing they need.

"We don't want them. Make them get out of here. We don't want them. We have enough problems of our own," one local woman said.

"ISIS, we need to finish these people. Nothing else. Because what they are doing to people is un-Islamic. Very un-Islamic," another local man said.

But in a place like Gaza, with little work, high rates of poverty and a surplus of bored young men, it is easy to see how extremism finds a home.