A Discussion for the Majority: A New Islamic cultural center in Verese
August 6, 2013
The Cultural Center brought up by the Associazione Unione Musulmani Varesini is expected to make some noise. This afternoon at the recent council meeting, the last before the summer break, the request was discussed to find a building to accommodate a cultural center.
After the postponement of last week’s discussions which were already on the agenda, the City’s planning department and the League’s Fabio Binelli, brought the issue to the foreground to seek the advice of fellow councilors. This advice is considered only as a technical point of view, but the councilors may have more say. Advice was sought to avoid the risk that this issue may become yet another quarrel in the center-right’s majority government in Rome.
“There must be made a ‘change of use’ license given and at the moment, without a full meeting, it is not feasible” said the commissioner Binelli. At this point everything is waiting on a new meeting, when the city, according to the regional law 12 of 2005, must identify the places of worship in the city. But does the law apply to a cultural center? “It’s an application is very ambiguous, the application says the site will be used as a cultural center, and also a place of worship, but here there is a risk that you mix the two.” But Binelli also expressed a concern: “I’m worried that if this new cultural center is open, it will become a principal center for the whole province, a fact that do not consider in line with our electoral mandate.”