Bridge over the Strait, green light from the Senate to the decree: now it’s law – Corriere.it

The decree on the bridge over the Strait of Messina was definitively approved in the Senate, with 103 votes in favour, 49 against and three abstentions. The provision, which was approved in the Chamber on 16 May, defines the structure of the Stretto di Messina spa company and restarts the planning and design activities. The majority stake in the company (51%) will go to the Ministry of Economy and Finance while the remainder to Rfi, Anas and the Regions of Sicily and Calabria. The Ministry of Infrastructures and Transport is assigned the task of guidance and supervision, with the possibility of appointing a commissioner. a historic, definitive decision, expected for more than 50 years, said the 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 work will enable 100,000 jobs to be created . Not the Messina bridge, the bridge of the Italians, underlined the minister. The goal is to start work as early as 2024 and complete it by 2030. The Ministry of Infrastructure is thinking of launching a competition to name the bridge.

The governance of the company

The board of directors will be made up of five members: two appointed by the MEF in agreement with the MIT (who will hold the position of chairman and managing director); one respectively by the Calabria and Sicily Regions and one jointly by 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, a further article was inserted which governs the expropriation procedures relating to the works for the construction of the bridge: a virtual drawer is provided (an internet space with restricted access) to dematerialise the direct exchange of communications and documents with the recipients of the procedures and a virtual file (i.e. an internet space with free access) to increase the publicity and transparency of the procedures and contain indirect communications. The provision also provides for measures to allow for a rapid reactivation of the company and the redefinition of the contractual relationships entered into. 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 Strait area of Messina, to the anti-mafia monitoring 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 from 2024 to 2030.