SILVIO BERLUSCONI, ITALIAN PRIME MINISTER (Translation): We discussed it today in cabinet and it was decided to approve my proposal to move the G8 from La Maddalena to here in L'Aquila in the centre of the earthquake-affected area.
April 6, and the region of Abruzzo is rocked by the deadliest earthquake to hit Italy in almost 30 years. Now, months later, the scars from that night are still easy to see. Italy's Guardia di Financa have taken me up in their helicopter to look at the damage - not just to L'Aquila, capital of Abruzzo, but to many of the surrounding villages and towns. Ancient buildings and art were smashed, the village of Onna was practically levelled, and almost 300 people were killed.
AGOSTINO MIOZZO, CIVIL PROTECTION AGENCY: This has been a great tragedy. For Italy, the disaster that happened in L'Aquila and the Abruzzo region, is a great disaster - is a great natural disaster.
Agostino Miozzo is the deputy head of Italy's Civil Protection Agency. It's responsible for the earthquake reconstruction effort and now also the organization of the G8. Some have described the change of venue as a political stunt, but Miozzo disagrees.
AGOSTINO MIOZZO: We think that it's correct, it's good, it's right to be here, to be close to the people that are suffering, close to the 65,000 homeless people. To have a sort of witness of their sufferings, to know and to show that the media are not gone three months after the disaster.
The people of Abruzzo will be grateful for the media attention - they blame some of their suffering on the government itself.
WOMAN (Translation): The government did a good job in the emergency phase. The initial emergency was handled very efficiently. What happened after the emergency, 15, 20 days, a month after the earthquake, we're not satisfied with that.
MASSIMO CIALENTE, MAYOR (Translation): We fell. We want to get up by ourselves. But they have to give us the means to do it. We need support.
At a rally in L'Aquila, the town's mayor accuses the government of not doing enough to help.
MASSIMO CIALENTE (Translation): Because I am convinced, like other people, that they're not allocating money for this earthquake. That's the truth. I'm sorry to say that.
Some locals complain that while money is being spent on a new road from the airport to the G8 venue, there are homes that still haven't been assessed for damage. It's a painstaking process. Teams of engineers and architects check every part of every building for structural damage in order to work out what can be saved and what will need to be torn down.
ENGINEER (Translation): The seal has come apart here. It's completely come apart.
For homeowners, it's been a long and anxious wait.
AGOSTINO MIOZZO: It is normal to have the complaint from people who have lost their property. But I have never seen a country that's a few weeks after the disaster has completed more than 60,000 evaluation of buildings. We have done that job.
The region's churches and other cultural monuments have already been assessed for damage. Many are now held together to prevent them from collapsing.
MARIO CERVINI, FIREMAN (Translation): They're still standing, but there's nothing left inside.
Fireman Mario Cervini was my guide inside L'Aquila's so-called red zone - the medieval town's historic centre, which is closed to the public.
MARIO CERVINI (Translation): We went in there to look for one person.
REPORTER: What happened?
MARIO CERVINI (Translation): We were too late.
This couple has been allowed into the red zone to check on their property and, if it's safe, to retrieve some of their belongings.
MARIO CERVINI (Translation): This is the first time I've been into this house. I haven't been into every house Follow me. Careful, this is unstable. Some parts are unstable, some have collapsed. The staircase is damaged. The lady wants us to retrieve the stuff up there. We can't do it right now.
We also meet an Italian-American woman who's come back to see her house.
REPORTER: This is your home?
IDA SPAGNOLI: This is my home. What's left of my home. When the earthquake hit I was sleeping in this room - this is the salon. I was sleeping on the couch and I found myself on the floor. I tried to get up, and I opened my eyes, and I heard all debris falling, stones falling around me. And I opened my eyes and all I saw was a cloud of dust. I couldn't see anything. And there was a dead silence. It was terrible. It was dead silence, except in the distance you would hear, "Help, is anybody there?" But to see the curtain hanging there and the chandelier hanging there, it's very bad. It's very bad. This was a beautiful place to be and now I feel it's all dead, and I feel this really tremendous sense of loss.
MARIO CERVINI (Translation): We're victims and rescuers. We're victims and rescuers. We were here too, inside. We're victims because we live in L'Aquila. So these are our homes. It makes it harder for us. Sorry.
REPORTER: I can see why you decided to return to Italy.
IDA SPAGNOLI: Right, I know. It's too beautiful.
Ida Spagnoli has invited me to visit Camarda, the small town where she was born.
IDA SPAGNOLI: And that's the tower - you can see it, just this little The symbol of Camarda was that tower which was restored a few years ago, and now it completely collapsed. And now the entire town is a ghost town - nobody is living there, they're all in tents, even though some of the houses are liveable, they haven't gotten the final word that they can go back into their homes. If they go, they go at their own risk.
REPORTER: So this is the new Camarda?
IDA SPAGNOLI: This is the new Camarda. Camarda Blue. This is where the lavatories are for the men and the women. And this is what people do, is they just hang out, chat.
IDA SPAGNOLI (Translation): How are you feeling in this situation?
MAN (Translation):Like refugees. It couldn't be any worse. The lady is worried about the potatoes.
IDA SPAGNOLI (Translation): Who's worried about the potatoes?
WOMAN (Translation): They're in a cave and she couldn't turn them over. So a lot of potatoes have gone bad.
IDA SPAGNOLI (Translation): So a lot of potatoes went bad - Because of that.
These are the little things that are bothering them because this was their way of life - they had a routine, now they were ready to plant potatoes, and she can't go back to get her potatoes to cut in order to use for plantings, you know.
REPORTER: And this is causing a lot of worry?
IDA SPAGNOLI: It's causing a lot of worry - just the simplicity of life, not even where her house is going to be in how many months, but the day to day issues are what's bothering them.
The government has promised proper housing for everyone within the next two to three months. Not everyone is reassured.
WOMAN (Translation): We're not very happy, because we don't believe them. We're used to not believing them.
IDA SPAGNOLI (Translation): Why?
WOMAN (Translation): Because they usually make empty promises. Promises that are - Empty. - They promise help, promise to rebuild houses There are parts of Italy where people still live in huts 25 years after a quake.
Berlusconi was accused of trivialising the plight of survivors shortly after the earthquake, when he told them they could enjoy a camping holiday. Recently he's offered these families a real holiday - summer cruises on the Adriatic.
WOMAN (Translation): He wants to send us on cruises, but I'm scared of the sea. Maybe the young people would go but I don't know. It would cost a lot less to get a bathroom for the children. We asked for a bathroom for the kids and didn't get one.
SPEAKER (Translation): Putting up with difficult living conditions, putting up with crowded conditions, being moved from hotel to hotel to make room for tourists. How long can this go on? This is our appeal to the politicians.
At the protest in L'Aquila, the mayors of all the earthquake-affected towns have gathered to make their demands. They want more than just housing and compensation - they want an assurance from the government that their priceless cultural heritage will be restored.
MASSIMO CIALENTE (Translation): Let me put it this way, no one is saying "Rebuild the historic centre of L'Aquila with all its buildings." It's unthinkable that Italy would give up on rebuilding a heritage city, the 4th largest university town in Italy, a regional capital.
AGOSTINO MIOZZO: I mean the amount of money that is requested that is needed is a huge amount. It's not some million of euro - we are talking about billions, we are talking about 10 billions roughly. But the government has taken the responsibility and the decision to cover this disaster.
Amazingly for a country where earthquakes are common, insurance cover for natural disasters is rare.
AGOSTINO MIOZZO: We still have some work to do in terms of insurance and this is one of the lessons, obviously. We are learning from our mistakes. If we were much more organised, in terms of insurances, we would avoid to have this burden of 9, 10 billions on the public budget.
At the police academy where the G8 is being held, workmen are literally painting over the cracks caused by the earthquake.
AGOSTINO MIOZZO: All the main meeting will be here. We will go inside. Let's go.
REPORTER: Sardinia, as you yourself said, is a much more glamorous location than this one. Have any of the delegations expressed regret that they're coming here instead?
AGOSTINO MIOZZO: Officially, no. Officially no-one regret.
But the world leaders gathering here may be in for a bumpy ride - there have been hundreds of aftershocks, one as big as 4.6. It's just a small taste of what life is like for the people of Abruzzo, who are hoping that if the world can see what they've lost, it might help them rebuild.
Reporter/Camera
AMOS ROBERTS
Editor
WAYNE LOVE
Producers
AARON THOMAS
SABINA CASTELFRANCO
Translations / Subtitling
DONNA TIERI
Original Music composed by
VICKI HANSEN