Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi said Tuesday he would like to construct a 'new town' near L'Aquila, the Abruzzo capital devastated by Monday's earthquake.
The government recently announced that more than 100 new towns would be built as part of a new construction drive aimed at helping revive the economy.
''I would like the first new town to be built here,'' Berlusconi said at a press conference in L'Aquila.
''There will be private investments and together with the support of the banks it would be possible to have mortagages smaller or equal to the cost of renting''.
The premier said Monday the new town could be completed ''within 24-28 months''.
The idea came under immediate fire from the Democratic Party's shadow environment minister Ermete Realacci.
''It's one thing to reconstruct the city with the criteria of security, efficiency and quality, taking its history into account, and it's another to imagine buildings that contrast with the characteristics of the area,'' Realacci said.
Pierluigi Mantini, an MP from Abruzzo for the centrist UDC party, also slammed Berlusconi's proposal.
''We don't want a 'new town', we want to reconstruct L'Aquila and (neighbouring) historic centres as even more beautiful and safer than before,'' Mantini said.
''The people of Abruzzo do not want L'Aquila 2,'' he added.
