Castiglione Residents Face Winter Without Diesel Amid Payment Disputes
“We risk spending the winter in the cold or heat from extremely dangerous kerosene and LPG heaters because no one wants to deliver us diesel anymore.” This desperate appeal is made to the citizens and the municipal administration by Franca Marconato, one of the hundreds of residents living in six of the buildings in the Cinque Continenti neighborhood of Castiglione.
“Our old administrator — explains Marconato — did not notify us that there were unpaid bills amounting to tens of millions of euros from many residents regarding diesel supplies. Now that we need to turn on the radiators, no one wants to deliver the diesel, and the boiler is shut down.” The buildings affected by this situation are the six in the central row of the neighborhood.
The residents’ requests and concerns
“We have also contacted the administrator and the municipality, but it seems the situation cannot be resolved. They told us we need to install methane boilers in every apartment. I and many others want to do this, but there is no time before winter, and we risk being left in the cold. Even the local plumbers are skeptical about being paid.”
“Now there are people, after many battles to eliminate LPG cylinders, who warm themselves with kerosene or LPG heaters. We ask the municipality to act as a guarantor with suppliers to deliver us diesel, at least for the coldest three months, then we will settle everything. If they don’t, it will be a disgrace for a municipality that claims to be a city and considers itself so wealthy.”
Statements from the mayor and the administration
Regarding the municipal administration, it should be noted that Mayor Sigurtà has been personally and carefully involved in this matter. However, he is not in Castiglione at the moment. His staff has informed us that the mayor has had several meetings with the residents of the affected buildings, with the administrators, and with the ASL (Local Health Authority).
For now, the municipality does not seem able to act as a guarantor for residents for the diesel supply. This is likely because, given some residents’ defaults, it would allocate an almost certainly unrecoverable sum.
However, the municipal administration has shown interest in obtaining a temporary exemption from the Local Health Authority that would allow the installation of methane boilers in the near future.