The accusation: “The administration has not given us a hand to continue the initiative.” Councilor Dassiè: “The structure has remained inactive, other realities need space”
BRIDGE IN THE ALPS. Pontalpine solidarity exchange center closed. The meeting point had ceased its activities since the arrival of the pandemic but now it no longer has a space available and therefore the volunteers who manage it have decreed the stop. The municipal administration, on the other hand, says it is willing to support any project linked to the logic of reuse and affirms that the volunteers themselves have not expressed the desire to resume the activity.
The initiative was launched several years ago by the Pontalpine volunteers to exchange items such as clothing, games and shoes between citizens. First the headquarters were in the former library in via Mangiarotti but then there was the transfer because the building was the subject of works by private individuals.
The Municipality had then identified a new space in Cado, near the pharmacy, until the arrival of Covid which stopped this type of activity for health reasons.
Now, however, the headquarters in Cadola will be made available to other volunteer realities that need space.
«With great regret», says one of the volunteers of the exchange center, the former councilor Monica Camuffo, «also the last slight hope of keeping our center open. In the coming days everything will be distributed between Limana, Sedico and Feltre, where fortunately some associations and organizations still believe in the project, or maybe something will be done in other neighboring territories. The administration did not give us a hand and in recent years we have always had several problems on the site, first because of Covid and then for users. There was no desire to continue this initiative ».
«We specify first of all», explains the city councilor Sabrina Dassiè, «that the administration is always in favor and will always support solidarity reuse projects that are in line with our values. The volunteers of the exchange center have been inactive since the arrival of Covid and have not decided to resume the service in these months in which there have been reopening as done in similar centers in other areas of the province. Indeed, some time ago they had given us back the keys to the headquarters precisely because they did not need them ».
«Since then, they have never expressed their desire to leave again, either officially or informally», continues Dassiè, «but many associations asked us for a headquarters in Cadola. In fact, we have many volunteer organizations that need space and therefore we have to make choices. And this we have communicated to them in recent days in a transparent way. If there is the will, we are ready to look for new solutions, perhaps thinking of multifunctional spaces to satisfy more people ».
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