Messina’s Strait in Italy, which is between the continent and Sicily
Italy will connect Sicily to the continent by “earth” – through the largest suspension bridge in the world. The project of building the bridge over the Messina Strait was definitely approved this Wednesday.
The government project, in the value of 13.5 billion eurosreceived the definitive “green light” of the Interministerial Committee for Economic Planning and Sustainable Development, as the Minister of Transport and Infrastructure and great driver of this controversial work, Work, had anticipated on Monday, Matteo Salvini.
“Now the Court of Audit visa is necessary, but I tell you with the shipyards, the works and the expropriations between September and October. If we continue as we started, the goal is to be able to cross the bridge between 2032 and 2033, as provided by the engineers”Salvini perspeated at a press conference.
Largest suspended bridge in the world
The project includes the construction of a 3.3 kilometers suspended bridgewhich will make it the largest in the world, with two railways in the center and three lanes on each side, and 40 kilometers of road and rail connections, three new railway stations and a business center in Calabria.
This idea of a bridge connecting the Italian peninsula to Sicily Island, contested by many in Italy, because it will be performed only with public money, is thought Since the times of ancient Romehaving been approved and canceled several times by different Italian governments since 1969.
The bridge over the Messina Strait was also an ambition of the former Prime Minister and Magnata Silvio Berlusconideceased in 2023. He never advanced at the high cost of investment, environmental concerns and also fears of mafia infiltration, particularly active in Sicily and Calabria, the region of the continent with which the island will be connected.
However, following the arrival of power in 2022 of the current right-wing and far rightful government led by Giorgia Meloni (Leader of the Post-Fascist Party Brothers of Italy), which also integrates the Italy Force (founded by Berlusconi) and the League of Salvini.
Very controversial work
Although the government argues that the bridge will be a “development accelerator”, there are many voices to be against this project and warn of “the lavishing ”of public money so necessary in other domains.
Last May, Italy’s largest union, the CGIL, wrote to the European Commission to ask you to reject the approval of the plan, and mentioned “Serious technical, environmental, regulatory and social issues”.
Many mayors and experts fear in particular that the ‘ndrangheta and cosa Nostra, the mafias who dominate calabria and sicilyrespectively, and that over the years have been infiltrated the legal economy, be the great benefited with this millionaire project.
Experts have warned that one of the sectors where the mafia has particular power is that of public works, and the public money for the bridge is in danger of pockets of families linked to ‘Nrangheta and Cosa Nostra, owners of tens of thousands of hectares in the areas affected by the works.
“If we do not build the bridge because there is the mafia and the ‘Nndrangheta, then we will do nothing anymore,” Salvini counterattacks, ensuring that the government will watch “the entire supply chain” of the work so that mobster infiltration is impervious.
At the technical level, many experts also warned the challenges that a work of this wingspan holds, noting that the Messina Strait is known to violent winds, which can exceed 100 kilometers per hour, putting in risk to bridge stability, supported by wire cables.
Besides, they remembered that this part of southern Italy is precisely in the border between two tectonic plates and has already suffered devastating earthquakes.
Interest to Nato?
Rome intends reclassify this project as a militaryto approach the commitment recently made by the NATO Member States to consecrate 5% of the respective GDP (Gross Domestic Product) to defense spending by 2035, arguing that it would increase the alliance’s military mobility by allowing the rapid transfer of troops and equipment between northern Europe and the Mediterranean region.
