Arcisate-Stabio, RFI “fires” the construction company

There are new storm clouds over the Arcisate-Stabio rail link, but this time, the cause is a strategic decision by RFI, the company that owns the construction site. In a bilateral meeting with the construction company, ICS Grandi Lavori, last Thursday, RFI announced that they intend to rescind the contract, by mutual consent. This was not a request that the company, run by Claudio Salini, had expected. Indeed, they had come to the meeting with a proposal to continue the work, and with a new plan for adjusting the costs and price lists. According to some RFI sources, the request will lengthen the times.

The company will not be able to leave the construction site in less than 6 months, and will demand at least € 15 million, to cover work not paid for, and to refund material that will be left along the 8 kilometers of the rail link under construction. It is still not clear whether RFI intend to “fire” ICS once and for all, or whether the proposal to rescind the contract was only an attempt to coerce. VareseNews asked RFI this last Wednesday, but the company still has not answered. In the meantime, the unions have sounded the alarm, as ICS have announced the dismissal of all of the workers. The dramatic turn of events on the site of the Arcisate-Stabio, Italian-Swiss rail link comes a few days after the new plan for disposing of the rocks extracted from the excavations, which was approved by CIPE, the Italian Interdepartmental Committee for Economic Planning. It seemed that everything had been settled, and in the meantime, optimistic announcements had poured in from various political forces. Today, yet another uncertainty has come.

“Our worries turned out to be well-grounded,” explained the Mayor of Induno Olona, Marco Cavallin, who is following the matter, together with all of the mayors of the councils in Valceresio. “As soon as we heard the news, we contacted the President of the Province, Gunnar Vincenzi, and informed the Minister, Maurizio Lupi, who confirmed that negotiations had been called for next week. However, we can’t accept what’s happening because it will have repercussions on the lives of our citizens. This dithering, this game between RFI and ICS has to come to an end and those with the power to order the two sides to find a solution must intervene decisively.”