Lombardy to Transfer Port and Lake Estate Management to Municipalities

Regarding regional law no. 22, which concerned the transfer of ports and lake estate to the municipalities, there was extensive discussion during a conference held last June in Manerba del Garda. On that occasion, it will be remembered, the regional councilor and rapporteur of the law, Giuseppe Romele, explained to the large audience of industry professionals present the characteristics and, above all, the advantages for various municipalities, holders of ports and public beaches, which would result from this much-anticipated transfer, including costs.

Now, after the recent elections that have significantly shaken many local administrations, talk has resumed about this now imminent reality. In the meantime, many discussions—often useless—have emerged regarding the concrete implementation of the transfers of administrative powers from Regione Lombardia to the municipalities for the management of both ports and public lake areas.

During this period, Regione Lombardia itself is finalizing all the legal tools necessary to enable, by next December (1999), the transfer of these powers. On this topic, in recent days, Romele wanted to remind that “as repeatedly emphasized to the numerous lake municipalities’ mayors, both by myself and by President Formigoni, Regione Lombardia is now ready, through specific draft agreements between the Region and municipalities, whether individual or associated, to effectively transfer to local entities management competencies for ports, including all direct and indirect activities connected to them. — again,” said Romele — “also for public demanial areas, which are also ready to be transferred to the municipalities.”

For some time now, many mayors of Garda have been engaged in seeking the best feasible solutions to implement in managing these transfers of responsibilities. Regarding this, Mariastella Gelmini, delegate of the Garda and Montichiari district for Forza Italia, is working to ensure, through a series of local initiatives across the whole lake, that municipalities are prepared and organized for the meeting with the Region at the end of the year.

“Municipalities signing the agreement with Regione Lombardia must seize the opportunity to create a new entrepreneurship in the management of these public services, specifically involving all associative and volunteer organizations already operating in the ports and lake estate areas. This,” said Gelmini, “is a gamble that largely hinges on the revival of our lake’s tourism economy, thanks also to the creation of new jobs and improved quality of the services themselves. If we, as administrators, can quickly implement this project, the Garda municipalities will stand out throughout Lombardy for efficiency and readiness to better exploit the advantages offered by this law,”