From an image of bankruptcy to a symbol of rebirth With a surface area of 1.2 million m², Gioia Tauro is one of Europe’s largest ports. With the help of the Structural Funds it has become one of the most important transhipment ports in the Mediterranean. “Transhipment” means the transfer of freight from ocean-going ships to Mediterranean vessels, which distribute the goods to over 30 ports in 12 Mediterranean countries. Gioia Tauro has created the conditions for direct trade between southern Italy and foreign markets, with no need to go through northern Italy. Linked to the national railway network through the Naples-Reggio Calabria line, Gioia Tauro has a six-track rail system, allowing six trains to be loaded at once. As a result, the port can handle a higher volume of commercial traffic, and conditions have been created within the port area for intensive production and for new SMEs. By being converted into a transhipment port, Gioia Tauro has created over a thousand jobs.
Progress for railways and telecommunications In an effort to improve its distribution and connection network, Telecom Italia has taken a number of steps to replace old technology used in its telephone exchanges with new digital equipment, thereby transforming 96.3% of the network by June 1999. Some of the main measures involved modernising exchanges in Campora, Montaldo Scalo and Occhio di Pellaro. The carrying capacity of the system was also increased through laying 15,000 km of fibre optic cables and installing new equipment and radio relay systems at Mormanno, Catanzaro, Lamezia, Armo and Gallina. Finally, the use of fibre optic cables in urban areas has increased since 1997, thereby allowing the development of wide band services. Some 6,000 ISDN gateways were established, increasing the amount of data per second transmitted via the Internet and developing “multi-media” services. Railway infrastructures have also been strengthened. A double track between Reggio Calabria and Melito Porto Salvo is being constructed at present, and the entire length of this line will be equipped with an automatic block signalling system. This measure will make it possible to establish an underground railway link under a densely urbanised area. Improving this stretch will allow faster speeds and about 13 minutes reduction in travelling time. Remote control train equipment will also be installed along this stretch. Network technology on the Tyrrhenian railway line is being improved. Automatic Coded Current Block and Centralised Traffic Control (CTC) systems are being installed along the Battipaglia-Paola, Paola-Reggio Calabria and Eccellente-Rosarno stretches. Finally, a public address system and telephone service will be installed on the Reggio Calabria-Metaponto line.
Letting the young people of Cosenza and Reggio Calabria have their say Work has begun in Cosenza on the Young People’s City (Città dei Ragazzi) along Via Panebianco. It will consist of a park with 13 buildings housing educational and recreational activities. A “ludoteca” will be set up in the park. This will be a structure in which children will be given free rein to enjoy various activities, produce plays, and organise dance performances, concerts and exhibitions. In addition to providing an area where children can experiment with manual and creative activities, the Young People’s City will also be a place where they can learn new computer technologies. In other words, it will be a genuine place of out-of-school learning, with its own programmes and objectives. In an effort to enable former drug addicts to re-enter working life after a period of rehabilitation within a community, the Urban programme in Reggio Calabria is setting up a nursery garden in which plants will be grown in greenhouses using new technologies. The former drug addicts will be assisted in their reinsertion into work by young job-seekers working alongside them. This scheme was introduced in 1996 and run on a voluntary basis by the Nazareno cooperative. Its current expansion, promoted by Urban, began in summer 1998 and has already helped about 20 young people.
CALABRIA REGION Dipartimento Bilancio e Finanze (Budget and Finance Department) Sviluppo economico e Politiche comunitarie (Economic Development and Community Policy) Via De Filippis, 72 88100 Catanzaro - Italia Tel: +39 0961 85 66 13 Fax: +39 0961 77 35 86 E-mail: [email protected]