2nd March 2009 - ....nothing but the truth." This is what the port operators as well as the city are asking for, beyond all the news on the local newspapers. Truth is objective; everyone can see it, even satellites, which are not liars. "We have had enough of it. As an operator of the trading port of Augusta I say stop with the coarse lies on the port. If to be considered we have to be Chinese or Japanese, we are ready to dress up as almond-eyed Asian people."This is the outburst of Mr. Luigi Maugeri Boocadifuoco, one of the few contractors who have used Punta Cugno for decades, increasing the movements of several kinds of goods, as for example the remarkable import-export trade of the Aeolian Towers. "We cannot stand anymore- the contractor says- all the political parades that we are forced to see almost every day on the trading port of Augusta. This is against all professionalism and ability of all people working at the port. We cannot stand anymore whoever, both on the left and right wing, says that Augusta is a hub port, which in a few years is going to be similar if not even better than Gioia Tauro." But Mr Luigi Boccadifuoco's one is not an isolated opinion. However we have to say that on the 506th episode of the "soap opera" of the appointment of a president of the port authority, the majority of the operators, institutions, trade unions, societies, authorities and local organizations keep silent. And at the same time, our office receives new messages and ideas" Dear director…the port authority of Augusta is absolutely out of order- Rosario F. writes- there is neither an equal distribution of the work on our territory, nor a positive consequence on it. We all know that the trading port will never be a competitive container berth. But have those speaking politicians ever seen a real container berth? I have a serious proposal in order to increase the work activities in Augusta. Considering that there are no more state areas available where the willing contractors should carry out a naval shipyard activity….what can we do? Give a temporary license to the companies, on the areas within the Trading Port. This would enable a lot of companies to build up and move crafts from the industrial area of Augusta to the sea, without the need to own a state area". We would like to inform all our readers that the current port authority of Augusta has given license to a Japanese-American company on 100 thousand square meters of yards and wharfs, fenced for two years and completely unusable by any other operators, to be used as a training place for empty containers movement, waiting for a supposed trading of ships and goods, that even Gioia Tauro should have feared. The operators say: "Has the company presented a business-planning containing all purposes to be reached? And if all purposes declared have not been reached, why has the license not been reviewed yet? These legitimate questions are waiting for an answer. While 100 thousand square meters are free from goods, they want to build up a new wharf "in order to give place to the huge quantity of incoming containers". "The containers dream could always be a dream- Boccadifuoco says- the dreams of big structures must face the difficult moment of the world economy. The expectations of a worldwide explosion of containers trades from Asian countries as China or India, supposed to take place in 2010-2012 are currently under revision, with a lot of pessimistic forecasts. This is widely confirmed by the fact that some very important carriers of containers ships have been forced to "stop" many ships from their fleets due to trades' lack. In spite of everything, during the last weeks we have seen a real advertising spot on the interest shown by the Chinese Company HNA towards the port of Augusta. "The local newspapers have trumpeted- Boccadifuoco says- talking about the interest shown by this "economic power" towards the port of Augusta, filling up their pages with a lot of articles on this subject. But which is the Chinese company business? You don't need to be almond-eyed to be involved in the trading activities of a port. It is a very powerful holding company, but its basic business is tourism and airlines. For what we know they are not involved in containers or any other sea activities. No doubt that this holding could bring to development, assuming the construction of a big airport in the middle of Sicily, but such investments are functional to tourism and not to any port activities, unless somebody can think that intermodality can be referred to the creation of synergies between the air and the sea traffic of goods (containers or other means), which are absolutely different one from the other. We are really surprised that the leaders, even if "temporary", of the Port Authority do not know such reality". But what did actually happen the day of the Chinese delegation's visit? It was just an attempt of clutching at straws, feeding the attentive Mister Tan Xiangdong, general manager of HNA, with a presentation through slides of the "magnificence" of the Punta Cugno business area. Three were the representatives of the regional Government who welcomed the guests, in the comfortable and elegant atmosphere of the Officers Club Vandone stateroom, kindly placed at disposal by the Italian Navy. From a logistic point of view, it would have been difficult to welcome the group in the seat of via Millo, already crowded, beyond any limits, by its busy employees and managers. The spokesman presented the various slides, starting from far away, showing the most important ports in Europe, from Rotterdam downwards, but unfortunately Augusta was not mentioned. Then he passed on to a picture from Google, showing the Punta Cugno area from above, but he quickly pointed out that it was a picture taken before the realization of the already financed structures, including wharfs and squares. They hadn't had the time to find a more updated picture. And now comes the best of the presentation: it was finally showed the slide of the notorious project, which should be carried out, listen all, "in the next two years, equipped with a travelling bridge-crane and a railway station". This was discussed during that meeting, kept secret to the local press, but discovered by some attentive journalists, who presented themselves under the right of fair news and information, in order to write down an objective and clear report. The presentation ended up with some pictures of the national and railway system, which should be hypothetically connected to Sicily and consequently to the Punta Cugno trading area. Maybe at that point the Chinese delegation felt that something was wrong. As a matter to fact, the attentive Mr. Tan asked, through his interpreter, a nice almond-eyed young lady, if Sicily had any high speed railway lines. The interlocutor was forced to admit that the "nearest section is the Naples-Rome line, it's a real shame that it is about some hundred kilometers far away, on the peninsula. Nobody pointed out that the road system around Punta Cugno is of the "Third World" type; there are too small overpasses, some of them closed to the traffic after some accidents, entire sections are fenced off, as the one on the ex 114, near the Sasol and Esso refineries, where a landslide occurred more than 18 years ago and reduced the roadway, which could be used in case of emergency of the industrial area. This is a very serious situation and it demonstrate the indifference of the ruling class about the real problems of the territory. Therefore, what are we talking about? If in more than 30 years the ruling class has been able to build up the trading port the way it is now, who can believe that in only two years they will be able to carry out a 800 meters wharf on the sea and a railway junction coming inside Punta Cugno? Gianni D'Anna. (English translation - thanks to Antonella Pozzobon)