By Francesca Piscioneri and Alvise Armellini
ROME, Oct 22 (Reuters) – Truck drivers’ protests that have seriously affected fuel and food supplies in southern Italy eased on Thursday, as Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government approved aid and took a harder line against roadblocks.
Since last week, hauliers have been blocking roads and motorways to protest against high fuel prices and demand help to reduce them, but their representatives said roadblocks would be lifted in Sicily following talks with the government.
Truck drivers in Calabria also suspended their protest, while Vincenzo Parisi, speaking for hauliers from the Campania region around Naples, told RAI public radio he hoped roadblocks could be lifted in the area later on Thursday.
In Rome, the cabinet approved a decree with more tax credits for truck drivers hit by higher fuel costs, adding €106 million ($118.66 million) to the €434 million previously offered, and earmarking €60 million for farmers and €10 million for the fisheries sector.
“I want to thank the associations that chose dialogue and called off the stoppages and demonstrations. That was an act of responsibility,” Meloni said on social media.
SUPERMARKET SUPPLIES DISRUPTED IN CAMPANIA
The protests caused “severe disruption” in Campania, restricting supplies to supermarkets, petrol stations and hospitals, Deputy Infrastructure Minister Edoardo Rixi told RAI radio.
However, Meloni’s office dismissed as “ridiculous” a front-page report by opposition newspaper Il Fatto Quotidiano that government headquarters in Rome were running out of toilet paper due to the truckers’ blockades.
In Naples, fuel shortages were making it harder for doctors to reach hospitals or ambulances to respond to emergencies, and also threatened municipal waste collection, according to Mayor Gaetano Manfredi.
“We understand the truck drivers’ concerns, but we are calling for a responsible protest. Fuel supplies for ambulances must be guaranteed and healthcare workers must be able to get to work,” the head of the Naples order of doctors, Bruno Zuccarelli, said.
MOZZARELLA, PASTA AND AUTO STOPPAGES
Buffalo mozzarella producers, largely based in Campania, were one of several businesses forced to suspend production, along with pasta and tomato sauce producers.
Car manufacturing group Stellantis was also affected. Due to component shortages, the Franco-Italian automaker halted its Pomigliano d’Arco plant near Naples, this week as well as at its van-making facility of Atessa, in the Abruzzo region, and the Melfi car plant in Basilicata. A company spokesperson said efforts were ongoing to restart those operations.
Antonio Ferraioli, chairman and chief executive of tomato sauce and pasta producer La Doria, told la Repubblica daily that the company had halted seven plants in southern Italy and placed half of its workforce on forced leave.
“If the protest continues, products from southern Italy will disappear from supermarket shelves across the country and will be replaced by imports or products from other parts of Italy,” he said.
The government said it was working to ensure the distribution of essential goods, including food and medicines, offering police escorts to trucks seeking to get past roadblocks.
Meloni said a minority of strikers were trying to prevent colleagues from going back to work by slashing their tyres and other violent means. “This is not protest, it is intimidation, and we will not tolerate intimidation,” she said.
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(Reporting by Francesca Piscioneri and Alvise Armellini in Rome; addional reporting by Giulio Piovaccari in Milan; Editing by Christian Schmollinger and Susan Fenton)
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