. | . |
Thousands demonstrate over Italy quake help Rome (AFP) July 7, 2010 Several thousand people from L'Aquila, the medieval city devastated by an earthquake last year, took to the streets of Rome on Wednesday to demand tax exemptions for the stricken region. Two demonstrators suffered minor injuries during skirmishes with police. "They don't care about us. They spent all the money for so-called temporary houses that are becoming permanent and now they want us to start paying taxes," Ciro Impronta told AFP. Impronta, a resident of L'Aquila lost his two apartments in the historical centre of the city, which is still inaccessible more than a year after the quake. Demonstrators pushed through police lines near Piazza Venezia and into Via del Corso, one of Rome's main streets, heading towards Parliament. For months, L'Aquila residents have been asking the right-wing government of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi for subsidies and a suspension of taxes in the city to help reconstruction and the local economy. "We are stuck in tiny, ready-built homes that already leak water and now there is no more money for reconstruction," one demonstrator, wearing a scarf bearing the black and green colours of L'Aquila, told AFP. The earthquake claimed 308 lives and ravaged the city on April 6, 2009. Some 120,000 people were affected by the quake around L'Aquila and tens of thousands are still living in hotels, barracks and a makeshift apartments built by the government.
Share This Article With Planet Earth
Related Links Bringing Order To A World Of Disasters A world of storm and tempest When the Earth Quakes
Peru declares emergency after mining dam collapse Lima (AFP) July 6, 2010 Peru declared a 90-day state of emergency Tuesday in the country's southeast following the collapse of a mine's tailings dam polluted surrounding rivers and farming fields, the Environmental Ministry said. Government officials said animals and wildlife as far away from the mine as 70 kilometers (43 miles), in the Andean region of Huancavelica, had been affected by outpouring of toxic metalli ... read more |
|
The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2010 - SpaceDaily. AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement |