RUINS AT GIBELLINA: TEMPORARY QUARTERS: RESIDENTS: ANOTHER TEMPORARY VILLAGE AT SALAPARUTA: VARIOUS SHOTS OF TEMPORARY DWELLINGS AND UNMADE ROADS: RESIDENTS:




Initials AJC/VS/MR/BJ



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Background: THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE MADE HOMELESS BY AN EARTHQUAKE IN SICILY NEARLY TWO YEARS AGO PLAN A SIT-IN PROTEST IN PALERMO ON CHRISTMAS NIGHT. THEY CLAIM THE GOVERNMENT HAS LET THEM DOWN IN ITS PROMISES OF AID AND RECONSTRUCTION.

THE EARTHQUAKE, IN JANUARY, 1968, CAUSED WIDESPREAD DESTRUCTION INT HE VALLE DEL BELICE, IN WESTERN SICILY. MORE THAN 400 PEOPLE DIED AND 1,000 WERE INJURED.

MANY OF THE VALLEY'S 200,000 INHABITANTS WERE MADE HOMELESS. TWO MONTHS LATER, AFTER A MARCH ON ROME, THE SURVIVORS SAID THEY WON A PROMISE FROM THE GOVERNMENT THAT RECONSTRUCTION OF THEIR TOWNS WOULD BEGIN BEFORE THE END OF THE YEAR. THEY SAID THEY WERE ALSO TOLD THAT 20,000 JOBS WOULD BE PROVIDED BEFORE THE END OF 1968 UNDER A DEVELOPMENT PLAN. RECENTLY, IN A LETTER OF PROTEST, SAID TO BEAR 5,000 SIGNATURES, THE PEOPLE OF VALLE DEL BELICE SAID NO STONE HAD BEEN LAID FOR RECONSTRUCTION AND THERE WAS NO SIGN OF THE DEVELOPMENT PLAN.

ONE OF THE TOWNS DEVASTATED BY THE EARTHQUAKE WAS GIBELLINA, ABOUT 55 MILES (88 KILOMETRES) SOUTHWEST OF PALERMO. THE SURVIVORS ARE LIVING IN A VILLAGE OF TEMPORARY DWELLINGS, ESTABLISHED WITH RED CROSS AID, IN THE OUTSKIRTS OF THE RUINED TOWN. A FEW MILES (KILOMETRES) AWAY, A SIMILAR VILLAGE HAS BEN SET UP BESIDE THE RUINS OF SALAPARUTA.

IN THEIR PROTEST LETTER, THE EARTHQUAKE VICTIMS SAY THEY ARE WITHOUT HOUSES, WITHOUT WORK, WITHOUT PROSPECTS AND RELEGATED TO SHANTY TOWNS WHICH ARE REAL CONCENTRATION CAMPS. THEY THREATEN TO WITHHOLD TAXES.