Once again, the shooting is being carried out for intimidation purposes and, even in this circumstance, the Callipo Group is in the crosshairs, an important production company among the oldest - it has recently exceeded 111 years of life - in Calabria and the entire South. The latest incident took place in San Pietro Lametino, an industrial area south of Lamezia Terme, where, in the night between last Saturday and Sunday, shots were fired. The alarm was immediately raised and Pippo Callipo, at the helm of the food brand known nationally and beyond, especially for the processing and canning of tuna, reported the incident to the State Police, which started the investigation.
The seventy-seven-year-old entrepreneur, who has been the leader of the group based in Pizzo, in the province of Vibo Valentia, for over half a century, two days after the incident, struggles to hide his discomfort and bitterness. Twice a candidate for the presidency of the Calabria Region, then a regional councilor, a position from which he resigned to return to the company, for Callipo this latest criminal episode represents more or less a sort of "déjà vu".
In the past, in fact, there has been no shortage of similar episodes, regularly reported, which, however, have not affected his determination in the slightest. "We are moving forward," he says, "even if it will necessarily be necessary to face the situation on the basis of the new difficulties and new costs for security. Such an incident, however, certainly cannot be ignored, even if it disturbs us and involves a certain concern." "What has happened - says Callipo - cannot stop us both because of our history, which is more than fifty years old for me and, before me, for my father and grandfather, and for the responsibility we have towards the almost 500 people who work with us. What bothers me the most, however, is to see that the area is equipped with a modern video surveillance camera system which, however, does not work as it has been tampered with as a result of some thefts. The plant remains deactivated also due to the fact that the entity that manages it does not have the necessary money for maintenance. In the past, there have been some thefts attributable to local petty crime. But it was just a matter of tampering with some cabins to steal copper and electrical wires."
Bipartisan statements of solidarity were shown to Callipo and his business group by local and regional politicians and institutions, as well as by the world of production and associations. Among those who expressed closeness to Callipo were some parliamentarians and the Undersecretary of the Interior Wanda Ferro.
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