"You ask me whether my conduct is attributable to the normal activity of the ministry for which I am responsible: the answer is yes". These are the words of the Minister of Agriculture, Food Sovereignty and Forestry Francesco Lollobrigida, who yesterday answered during question time in the Chamber to a question tabled by the 5 Star Movement, regarding the affair of the extraordinary stop made in recent days on the Rome-Naples train route, which the minister took advantage of on his way to an institutional appointment in Caivano, in the province of Naples. "In recent days the affair has been the subject of controversy that I define as specious," emphasizes Lollobrigida, who returns to the substance of the affair: "Immediately after departure from Rome, the high-speed train was diverted, regardless of me, on the ordinary railway line and a delay was announced first of 75 minutes and then of 100 minutes. Within minutes the train stopped several times and for a long time. Evidently, the journey jeopardized the possibility of attending the events, with serious organizational consequences all to the detriment of school personnel, Carabinieri personnel and the many citizens who were stopping outside on a day of severe weather alert for the Campania region. At that point I felt I should ask if it was possible to make an extraordinary stop, without any pretense of receiving preferential treatment, but with full respect for the treatment of Ferrovie dello Stato, which I know well, having been a transport councilor for the Lazio Region, and in a period in which there have been many cases of extraordinary stops authorized for the most varied reasons in order to allow users to get off rail convoys". "I would add that in this case, as declared by Ferrovie dello Stato, there was no additional inconvenience and that all passengers were able to disembark at Ciampino station, as per the punctual communication issued by the train conductor," specifies the minister, who concludes, "I am certain that I did my duty: my presence in Caivano represented the closeness of the State in a territory battered by crime”.
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