Ua continuous and persistent drop that slowly aims to break down the wall of resignation and silence. This may be the right metaphor to give an idea of what the anti-racket commitment of Sicilian entrepreneurs is today. Of those entrepreneurs who have not allowed themselves to be overwhelmed by discouragement and pessimism and have continued to have faith in the state. But few remain. There are 20 counted in the first months of this year by Pippo Scandurra, himself an entrepreneur who denounced the mafia racket in the province of Messina and now national vice president of the Network for legality-Sos enterprise association. There were 30 in Sicily those accompanied to the complaint by this association last year. Certainly there is, as the head of the Palermo Anti-Mafia prosecutor Francesco lo Voi recently explained, that “the complaints by entrepreneurs, victims of this crime, are not very relevant from a quantitative point of view, but of sure impact from a qualitative point of view “.
The number of complaints
A number of complaints that seems to be the tip of the iceberg and that more or less coincides with the data of the office of the national Antiracket commissioner on the applications presented in 2020 to access the benefits: 28 in Sicily out of a national total of 284. “But it is a partial fact – explains the national president of Sosimpresa Luigi Cuomo -: for each company that submits an application, there are nine others that do not. According to an estimate, therefore, there could be at least 300 complaints presented by Sicilian entrepreneurs against racketeering in 2020 ”. Few, of course, but they are the symptom of an “increased awareness among entrepreneurs” adds Cuomo. The data, referring to all the police forces in the field, speak of a thousand extortion crimes reported in 2020 which obviously include not only those reported by entrepreneurs but also those discovered independently by investigators. And in 2021, January-April, they are already 300 and up from just over 25o in the same period last year.
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Stories of businesses and lace
We have recent stories of the awareness of entrepreneurs such as that of the knight Giuseppe Condorelli at the head of the confectionery company of the same name in the Catania area famous for nougat, who had the courage and the form to go against the Santapaola-Ercolano family, the elite of Cosa Nostra. While the story involving Michelangelo Mammana, an entrepreneur from the Messina area of construction who had the strength to denounce the extortionists belonging to the Farinella mafia family of the Mafia district of San Mauro Castelverde, is starting to trial. Or the story of a small Palermo building contractor who a few months ago refused to pay the protection money and denounced those who told him to “get right”. These are just a few examples. For everyone, the principle summarized by Condorelli applies: «You must not be afraid to raise your head – says Condorelli – but you must certainly do it wisely. My story managed to convey a strong message and a healthy and honest Sicily emerged which, in my opinion, has a majority ».
Confindustria Sicilia: consistent behavior is needed
Recently Confindustria Sicilia has returned to reiterate the need for a complaint but the president Alessandro Albanese has also publicly underlined the need, on the part of large companies that come to invest in the city, for consistent behavior: “From the wiretapping in a recent investigation it emerges that a boss , officially an employee of a company, would have carried out important construction sites in the city. It is incomprehensible that a large national commercial group or a large and consolidated Palermo trading company does not seek the best for a large investment, to open a construction site in the Sicilian capital – says Albanese -. In our game, whoever works best wins. Therefore, before entrusting our investments to someone, we ask for reliability references. Whoever does not operate with the rules of the free market poisons the playing field ».