Syracuse water, the issue of 21 million: who decides for the citizens?

It has not yet been decided, but it is almost certain that Aretusacque will also intervene in the lawsuit initiated by Siam against Ati and Comune regarding the amount of the "Regulatory Buy-in Value", which is the sum that the incoming manager must pay to the outgoing manager of a public concession, based on calculations of investments and tariff adjustments. The current water service manager in Syracuse has made a very high claim of 21 million in credits, while Ati has calculated an even smaller debt amount (– 210,053 euros). Hence, the appeal to the Tar by Siam, which has challenged the Ati resolution.

The point is that this sum would be advanced by the incoming manager (Aretusacque), hence the inevitable involvement in the proceedings at the Tar Catania of the mixed company (51% Municipalities, 49% Acea), future single manager of the water service. But it should also be added that this potential outlay would subsequently be recouped in tariffs, according to Arera rules: which means that, in the end, those 21 million would be paid by the citizens in their bills. A simple mind might say: since it could all end up in our pockets, who represents us citizens in the lawsuit? A simple question that becomes a complex issue because, as is known, Aretusacque consists of two corporate bodies, one representing the private partner (the Management Board), the other expressing the public partner, which are the Municipalities (the Supervisory Board). Yet it will be the Management Board that decides on the intervention in the lawsuit. In the next meeting.

The matter opens, beyond the substance, a formal issue that resembles the challenge to the tender for the construction of the Augusta wastewater treatment plant, decided by the private parties on behalf of Aretusacque and which has created some grumbling, since within the same Supervisory Board some were not in agreement with that challenge. In that case, the Tar ruled against Aretusacque, but that is another story.

This is a case where the interests of the private and public coincide, but it formally raises a recurring question: how much weight does the public partner, politics, and those who vote for it, have within Aretusacque? Meanwhile, Ati formalizes its intervention in the lawsuit this morning, as the Comune has already done. Ati is the area management authority, which among its prerogatives has the power to assign the service to the single manager. But since the private partner (Acea) was only identified a few months ago and the company for the single management was subsequently established, the service in Syracuse was entrusted with a bridge contract by the Comune. Hence the involvement of the two entities. And soon, probably, also of Aretusacque: this will be decided by the Management Board.