The decree on the bridge over the Strait of Messina was definitively approved in the Senate, with 103 votes in favor, 49 against, and three abstentions. The measure, which was approved by the Chamber on May 16, defines the structure of the Stretto di Messina thermal company and restarts planning and design activities. The company’s majority stake (51%) will go to the Ministry of Economy and Finance while the remaining stake will go to Rfi, Anas and the Regions of Sicily and Calabria. The Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport is assigned the task of direction and supervision, with the possibility of appointing a commissioner. “It is a historic, definitive decision, which has been expected for more than 50 years,” said Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Transport and Infrastructure, Matteo Salvini, at a press conference after the final vote on the bridge decree, adding that the The work will enable 100,000 jobs. “It is not the Messina bridge, it is the Italian bridge”, stressed the minister. The goal is to start the works in 2024 and complete them in 2030. The Ministry of Infrastructure is thinking of launching a contest to name the bridge.
The company government
The board of directors will be made up of five members: two appointed by the MEF in agreement with MIT (which will hold the position of president and general director); one respectively for the Regions of Calabria and Sicily and one jointly for Rfi and Anas. Article two, on the other hand, redefines the concession relationship between MIT and the Strait of Messina.
The other novelties of the decree
During the hearing in Montecitorio, another article was inserted that regulates the expropriation procedures related to the construction works of the bridge: a “virtual drawer” (an internet space with restricted access) is foreseen to dematerialize the direct exchange of communications and documents with the recipients of the procedures and a “virtual file” (that is, a space on the Internet with free access) to increase the publicity and transparency of the procedures and contain indirect communications. The provision then provides for measures that allow a rapid reactivation of the company and the redefinition of the stipulated contractual relationships. Among other things, provisions have been introduced regarding priority projects for the adaptation of infrastructures, the completion of the A19 Palermo-Catania motorway, an integrated plan aimed at adapting the local and regional public transport system in the area of the Strait of Messina, to the anti-mafia follow-up of the construction of the work and to a communication plan for the construction of the bridge over the Strait, for which a total of 7 million (one million a year) have been allocated for the period 2024 to 2030.
