Scampia Vele blocks to come down - mayor (2)

(ANSA) - Rome, March 6 - Naples Mayor Luigi De Magistris said Monday that most of the infamous 'Vele' (Sails) tower blocks in the southern city's Scampia district will be demolished as part of a new government plan for deprived areas on the outskirts of Italian cities. "The Vele will come down, the first (block will be demolished) at the start of the summer this year," he said. He added that only one of the four 'Vele' blocks will remain.
    This will be renovated and turned into the headquarters of the Naples metropolitan authority. Scampia has high rates of crime and unemployment rates and is one of the areas used by the Neapolitan Camorra syndicate to sell drugs. Parts of the hit movie Gomorrah, based on Roberto Saviano's book about the local mafia, were shot in Scampia. Premier Paolo Gentiloni on Monday presented a plan to invest 3.9 billion euros in deprived areas on the outskirts of Italian cities, including 500 million euros right away. "Today a 500-million-euro commitment was made for the best 24 projects in the periphery areas," Gentiloni told a press conference. "The commitment regards 120 interventions in total, so 95 more than those for today. The money is there.
    "The CIPE (Interministerial Economic Planning Committee) has set aside another 800 million of the 1.6 billion needed and the other 800 million are part of the fund for infrastructure. "In addition to the 2.1 billion, public and private funding will be added for a total of 3.9 billion".