On November 17th, 2008 Guy Dinmore published an article on the Financial Times about the Italian oil company Eni, traded on the New York stock exchange as NYSE:E and its environmentally irresponsible ways of drilling oil and of respecting people, parks and history. Dinmore describes the nightmare of what it meant and still is for the people of Basilicata, a southern Italian region, to accept oil companies on their territory.
At first, the discovery of oil was celebrated by the people of Basilicata as the beginning of a new future of wealth and opportunity. Basilicata was a very poor region, plagued by emigration, and little job opportunities aside farming. They believed the promises ENI made them, they believed that young people could lead a prosperous life at home, and that high unemployment in the region would finally belong to the past.
Fiftenn years after the promises the truth has finally come. Starkedly naked.. The population of Basilicata continues to dwindle. Over the last ten years the population has fallen from 600,000 to only 530,000 people, the jobs created by the oil companies are few and mostly for people coming from outside Basilicata. The enviroment is seriously damaged by hydrogen sulfide and other toxic chemicals released in the atmosphere and on the ground. Public health has been compromised, corruption is rampant and cancer rates are skyrocketing.
What was celebratated many years ago as the beginning of a new development turned into the worst nightmare for Basilicata. We don't wont this to happen to Abruzzo. We know the truth about oil companies. Despite all the corruption that exists in Italy's commanding heights we are determined to save our land and not to make any of this happen to us.
The Financial Times news article can be reached following this link.
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