Italy: tension over volunteers in Naples

The planned selection of 2 thousand civil service volunteers (with a budget of 14 million euros) to be employed in the Neapolitan area will not start until the end of March. The announcement was made by Cristina De Luca, deputy secretary of Social welfare affairs who did not try to hide the fact that ?the delay is caused by the complexity of the project, especially in terms of defining the boundaries of the responsibilities of the various actors involved?. It would seem that there is a dire conflict between local associations and the local Government, that had at first been chosen to take on a leading role. The meeting that took place on the 12th of January was a total flop and Mrs De Luca had to travel to Naples to try and negotiate the situation. Unfortunately she returned to Rome without having solved the conflict: ?it is a delicate question, we mustn?t make any mistakes?. In the meantime, a case has been opened to inquire into the supposed cases of nepotism that are said to have taken place during the selection of volunteers in 2004 and 2005. www.serviziocivile.it www.comune.napoli.it