THE DAY SICILY STOPPED

A transport strike of goods vehicles has more or less brought Sicily to a standstill today, with intercity roads and ports being blocked all over the island.  This, in turn, has caused the closure of some petrol stations and long queues outside those remaining open, while some pupils were unable to get to school and supermarkets quickly ran out of milk, bread and other fresh products.

The stoppage, called by Forza D'Urto,  a new movement made up of members of Autotrasportatori Aias, the Movimento dei Forconi [an agricultural workers' movement] fishermen, businesspeople from the agricultural sector, indignati and others, is intended to be a peaceful protest that will not hurt Sicilians but will make people all over Italy realise that something must be done about the current economic crisis.  The banners of trade unions or political parties will not be displayed during the protest.  The organisers say that the movement is for all Sicilians who are tired of bureaucracy and corruption of all kinds and who wish to reclaim their rights. Italy's main trade unions have, however, distanced themselves from the movement in statements issued today.

Members of the movement are particularly calling for a reduction in the excise duty on fuel, which has hit their industry and, consequently, Sicilian producers and exporters, hard and the strike is scheduled to last for five days, ending at midnight on Friday-Saturday night.