Italy has requested one billion euros
from the EU's COVID Recovery Fund to be allocated to helping
towns and villages recover from the devastating earthquake that
hit central Italy in 2016, quake commissioner Giovanni Legnini
told an ANSA Forum Wednesday.
"The measures complementary to the process of reconstruction
which we have proposed regarding the Recovery Fund resources are
decisive," he said.
He said one billion euros had been requested for the borghi
affected by the 2016 tremor and an earlier one that hit Abruzzo
in 2009.
The money would be used, he said, "to equip the borghi, to make
them attractive, to make them sustainable and connected".
Legnini added: "the great challenge is to ensure the quality of
reconstruction, to make the towns smart".
The earthquake, measuring 6.2 in magnitude scale, hit Central
Italy on 24 August 2016.
Its epicentre was close to Accumoli, with its hypocentre at a
depth of 4 km, approximately 75 km (47 mi) southeast of Perugia
and 45 km (28 mi) north of L'Aquila, in an area near the borders
of the Umbria, Lazio, Abruzzo and Marche regions. As of 15
November 2016, 299 people had been killed.
The 2009 L'Aquila earthquake, measuring 5.9 on the Richter
magnitude scale, killed 308 people.
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