Interior Minister Roberto Maroni on Tuesday said that a total of 130 million euros has been earmarked for his ministry's role over the next six months in dealing with the aftermath of Monday's earthquake in the region of Abruzzo.
The funds, he explained, were needed for the police and firemen deployed on the ground.
Speaking on a morning TV talk show, Maroni added that the cabinet will meet again on Wednesday to review the situation and allocate more funds.
All resources needed to deal with this national emergency would be used, the interior minister added.
There are currently 1,950 firemen employed in Abruzzo and have with them some 90 vehicles.
The interior ministry has also sent in 72 engineers and architects, to ascertain the stability of buildings, 13 special mountain climbing squads, 40 search dogs and six squads specialised in searching through rubble using high-tech equipment.
In order to assist rescue efforts, the ministry has brought in 51 earth-moving vehicles, six cranes, 22 ladder trucks, four helicopters, two mobile communications units and three radio transmitter-receivers.
Maroni said that over 10,000 beds had been found for the homeless in hotels along the Abruzzo coast.
''However, many of the homeless have preferred to stay in the area and sleep in their cars because they are, understandably, concered about looting.
In order to deal with the problem of looting, Maroni said an additional 200 police and Carabinieri had been sent in and that their number would be increased after several cases of looting were reported on Monday.
