A fresh controversy over a luxury Sardinian villa of outgoing Premier Silvio Berlusconi broke Wednesday, when local authorities here announced they are to inspect the home's latest development.
The regional government said it will send Forest Guards to check that the construction of a 'belvedere' - a small, artificial hill with centuries-old olive tress and a bench to enjoy the view from - at Villa Certosa is authorized and complies with environmental regulations.
The inspection comes after a Sardinian radio station reported that work in the 52-acre park surrounding Berlusconi's villa has been ongoing for months. Berlusconi's lawyer, Forza Italia Senator Niccolo' Ghedini, insisted nothing illicit had taken place at the home and suggested the furore had been stirred up for political reasons.
"The work taking place at Villa Certosa has been authorized according to the regulations," Ghedini said Wednesday.
"Once again we have an attempt to attack Premier Berlusconi with specious, groundless arguments. Everything that has been done at Villa Certosa complies with the law and fully respects the environment. "It is a splendid site that has been made even more extraordinary and unique.
"It is incredible that polemics continue over someone who has devoted passion, time and money to create an unrivalled park, in total respect for the environment, and (in the process) saved an enormous area that originally was going to be set aside for building".
The Region of Sardinia's Town Planning and Local Authorities Councillor, Gian Valerio Sanna, rebutted Ghedini's accusations.
"The regional government does not have a preconceived attitude and this is not a pretext to attack (Berlusconi)," said Sanna.
"This is an act we are duty-bound to carry out when one finds out about an episode of this type, even if it is from the press...
"I don't doubt Ghedini's word, but it is my duty to verify that what has been reported (to me) complies with the regulations in force".
Villa Certosa has been at the centre of a string of controversies since it emerged that a mock-Greek amphitheatre had been built in the villa's grounds and that a tunnel had been drilled through a cliff to a private, hidden jetty. Local prosecutors opened an investigation, but the probe was blocked by the Interior Ministry which imposed state secrecy on the site.
Environmentalists and centre-left politicians cried foul, claiming this was simply a cover for illegal construction work.
The state-secrecy protection of the site was reported to have been removed last year, but authorities said Wednesday it still applied.
Berlusconi, Italy's richest man, has several villas on Sardinia, a sumptuous Renaissance palazzo in Rome, an extensive villa outside Milan and a castle in Tuscany. But Villa Certosa on Sardinia's famed Emerald Coast is the jewel in the billionaire media magnate's real-estate crown. It is a 27-room villa with special features such as underground pools and a huge garden of cacti.
The residence is a favourite refuge for Berlusconi, who has entertained British Premier Tony Blair and Russian President Vladimir Putin there with evenings of song and tours of the cactus collection.
