Gentiloni visits quake zone

(ANSA) - Rome, August 14 - Premier Paolo Gentiloni on Monday visited the central Italian area hit by deadly earthquakes last year and rebutted claims from a local mayor that the population had been "fooled" by the government over post-quake tax breaks.
    Gentiloni visited the village of Arquata del Tronto in Marche, one of the villages flattened by quakes in August and October that left 300 dead.
    The mayor of the Lazio village of Amatrice, Sergio Pirozzi, had said "they fooled us on the exemption from taxes and contributions".
    In Arquata, Gentiloni inspected new temporary homes set up for quake survivors.
    Replying to Pirozzi, he said Italy has "solid" laws on tax breaks in quake-hit areas. Gentiloni said the government had made the "most significant economic and financial commitment that there has ever been in reconstruction in Italy in decades".