Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi on Friday cried about the red tape needed to install a fountain at his luxury villa in Sardinia as an example of measures needed to revive Italy’s economic growth.
“Even with centre-right local governments there, I had to wait for months and months to install a fountain on an area of one million square metres,” the billionaire leader told reporters, announcing proposals to cut bureaucracy.
“I’ve got a building site blocked for months because I couldn’t get a permit from the local government,” he moaned. He added: “Our public administration is extremely slow and inefficient. It’s bureaucratic oppression!”