“We are here to show solidarity with innocent victims, but also to demonstrate the serious, authoritative, constant presence of the State, which has not been sufficiently perceived and perhaps not sufficiently present in territories like this one,” she said after chairing a public order meeting in a local school.
“I think that a serious state and a courageous politician must put themselves out there for the difficult things to be solved by taking full responsibility for them.
“We are not here just for the necessary condemnation and solidarity, we came here to say that we are showing up, putting ourselves out there”.
Speaking in an area which has one of the biggest drop-out rates in Italy and where youngsters are often employed by drugs gangs, Meloni said laws must be bolstered to force families to send their children to school.
“There are important norms against dropping out of school, but they must be strengthened in order to fight this phenomenon," she said.
“School attendance is complusory but the sanctions for those families that decide not to send their kids to school are not sufficient.”
The territory of Caivano will be “radically reclaimed” from criminal gangs by the State, she said.
“You will soon see the fruits of this action.
“Starting from this territory that today is known for its problems, the goal is that tomorrow it will be a model: from a problem to an example.
“And this is the goal of the government with the cooperation of all the institutions.
“I think that a serious state and a courageous politician must put themselves out there for the difficult things to be solved by taking full responsibility for them,” Meloni said during her press conference. (Photo: YouTube)
Meloni explained that the guidelines of her government's action are based on the firmness of the State against crime, particularly against drugs.
“If we are here today to condemn such a barbaric episode, it means that there has been a failure on the part of the state here, despite the efforts that have been made.
“The just state has first and foremost the duty to defend the weakest, and minors are foremost among them.”
The number of people involved in the gang rape has fueled fears that there are more such episodes than those being reported.
Meloni added that the abandoned sports centre where the rape allegedly took place will be fixed up and reopened by next spring.
“The Delphinia centre is a large sports centre, a 25,000 square metre facility, which has been abandoned for years and is now an open-air dump and one of the places where decay encourages crime.
“Our goal is to reopen the centre by next spring.
“There can be no zones free for crime to run rampant without State intervention,” she said.
“The main message that we want to give is that there must be no criminal enclaves and it is a message that we give here, but the Parco Verde (Green Park) of Caivano is not the only territory that is in these conditions: there are many territories that are in these and the message is addressed to the many Caivanos of Italy.”
Nine years ago, in 2014, Caivano first gained shocked headlines after a six-year-old girl, Fortuna Loffredo, was serially abused and then murdered by being thrown from the eighth floor of an apartment block in Parco Verde, the same area where the recent gang rape allegedly occurred.
The Neapolitan Camorra mafia controls rackets in the area, which has been ravaged by the Campanian Mob’s toxic waste fires.
Nine years ago, in 2014, Caivano first gained shocked headlines after a six-year-old girl, Fortuna Loffredo, was serially abused and then murdered by being thrown from the eighth floor of an apartment block in Parco Verde, the same area where the recent gang rape allegedly occurred.
Meloni, meanwhile, also met with parish priest Don Maurizio Patriciello and the Bishop of Aversa, Monsignor Angelo Spinillo, on the first leg of her visit on Thursday.
Crowds greeted her arrival at the church of San Paolo Apostolo in Parco Verde, the scene of the alleged gang rape of two cousins aged 10 and 12 last month, with shouts of “Giorgia, Giorgia!”.
The meeting lasted 40 minutes, after which the prime minister was taken to the local Francesco Morano high school to attend a meeting of law and order officials.
On Wednesday the Meloni received death threats ahead of her visit, with social media posters unhappy at the government’s phase-out of the citizenship wage (RdC) minimum income benefit saying she would be well advised not to go to an area that holds the record for RdC recipients.
ANSA
