Ragusa, the Sicilian Laboratories Movement protests: "The province of Ragusa has been robbed of 369,000 euros"

"The Iblean province has been deprived of 369,000 euros intended for the contracted services of the analysis laboratories."

The complaint comes from the Sicilian Laboratories Movement (Mls), through the voice of the regional and provincial secretary, Salvatore Battaglia, who speaks of "a very serious matter, the result of a bureaucratic-political alchemy that unjustly penalizes the territory of Ragusa."

According to the union's reconstruction, the regional health department would have illegitimately transferred a significant portion of the allocations assigned to the province of Ragusa to the Asp of Syracuse, despite the services being entirely performed in the Iblean territory.

This transfer has been described as "incomprehensible and unacceptable", which would have reduced the provincial budget from over 5,500,000 euros to about 4,900,000 euros, resulting in a shortfall of 369,000 euros.

"These funds – explains Battaglia – are necessary to guarantee contracted services to citizens. If they are taken away, it means that for the next two years the province of Ragusa will have fewer services, fewer performances, fewer responses to the health needs of the population. It is a direct harm to citizens and to the structures operating in the territory."

The Mls then appeals to the leaders of the Asp of Ragusa: "We ask the Asp managers to immediately take charge of the issue and formally request the regional health department to restore the withdrawn funds. It is unacceptable that resources intended for Ragusa are diverted elsewhere without any technical or administrative justification."

Battaglia also calls on regional politics: "The local deputies must intervene immediately. It is their institutional duty to prevent the province of Ragusa from being further penalized. We cannot allow that a mistake, or worse, a wrong political choice, translates into a cut in essential services for thousands of citizens."

The union finally emphasizes that, with a correctly restored budget, the Ragusa area should have over 5.5 million euros, in line with the volume of services actually provided.

"We will not stop – concludes Battaglia – until these resources return to where they belong: serving the Iblean citizens and the laboratories that provide essential services for public health every day."