Tomorrow the bridge over the Strait arrives at the Chamber. There will be an examination of the preliminary questions regarding the urgent provisions for the construction of the work presented by the Movimento 5 Stelle. The decree-law was approved by the Council of Ministers on March 16. The text contains measures aimed at accelerating the construction of the stable connection between Sicily and Calabria, setting the executive project for the work to July 31, 2024. The decree intervenes across the board. It starts with the corporate structure of the company Stretto di Messina Spa which includes, among the shareholders, Anas, the National Autonomous Company of State Roads, which owns 81.848%, Rete Ferroviaria Italiana – RFI with 13%, the Region of Sicily with 2,576 % and the region of Calabria with 2.576%. The share capital amounts to 383 million and 179,794 euros.
The decree also illustrates the concession relationship, the resumption of work planning and project activities, the figure of the extraordinary commissioner, the environmental inspection service, but also the contractual relations with the general contractor and the consultant to the project manager. The Ministry of Infrastructure will supervise the company’s activity, and it will also be responsible for setting up a scientific committee with technical consultancy functions to supervise and guide technical planning activities. Seven years of time, ten thousand million euros of costs and thirty years of concession of the work that will start running from its entry into service. It will be a monumental work with a central span estimated at around 3 kilometers and 200 meters, 65 meters high from the canal, 6 roads and 2 railways.
Needless to say, the work has already generated controversy. In the first place by Angelo Bonelli, of the Italian Green-Left Alliance, who declared: “Salvini does not say where he is going to get the 10 billion to build the bridge. This is an important point that we are going to deepen and we are already preparing a complaint report that we will send to the Court of Auditors”.
Source: IL Tempo
Emma Fitzgerald is an accomplished political journalist and author at The Nation View. With a background in political science and international relations, she has a deep understanding of the political landscape and the forces that shape it.
