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Roundup: Italian authorities vow to rebuild earthquake-hit areas

Xinhua, November 3, 2016 Adjust font size:

The Italian authorities have expressed determination to rebuild the central Italian towns hit by strong earthquakes from August to October.

Italian President Sergio Mattarella said on Wednesday that the state will rebuild the earthquake-hit towns.

The reconstruction "will take time, but everything will be as before", the president told displaced citizens while visiting Camerino and Norcia, two towns badly damaged by the earthquakes that rocked central Italy last week.

On Sunday, a strong earthquake struck the center of Italy, leaving thousands of people homeless and jobless. The epicenter was near Norcia in Umbria region.

"Everything will be rebuilt" is also the message given by Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi on many occasions during these days, following the strong earthquake (6.5 magnitude) on Sunday.

"Our fellow citizens must know that the state is with them," he told journalists during a press conference. "This earthquake is an extraordinary event, and we need extraordinary measures. Places affected by the earthquake have a soul, and they can't loose it," he said.

Renzi met the ministers on Monday, in an urgent meeting. One of the first measures adopted was to extend the emergency powers to the head of Italy's civil protection agency, Fabrizio Curcio.

By Friday, Renzi told journalists that an urgent decree will be approved. The new law will design four stages. In the first, people will be requested to leave the affected areas, if possible. In the second phase, citizens will be relocated in containers.

In spring or summer, the Italian prime minister said, people will be hosted by small houses in wood. The fourth stage will be the reconstruction.

According to Italian media, the government designed this plan after the refusal by many people to leave the affected areas. Citizens that are not willing to leave will be hosted by tents. Others, in this first stage, will sleep in special trains or hostels.

More personnel will be sent to the regions struck by the earthquake, Renzi said. He also promised interventions to sustain especially farmers.

"We will rebuild everything, not only houses and churches, but also tourist and commercial activities. I want that especially farmers feel the government closer", he told journalists.

He assured that the government is respecting European laws. "We will give everything necessary for your towns," he told those affected.

"Our armed forces are working tirelessly together with the civil protection agency in the places struck by the earthquake. In addition to the 1,237 military and 334 military vehicles already on the ground, we are ready to send another 500 men, in coordination with the Ministry of Interior, to oversee the earthquake zone and prevent acts of looting," Italian Defence Minister Roberta Pinotti said in an interview with the daily Il Messaggero. Endit