A committee of Italian ministers on Wednesday green lit plans to build a 3.3-kilometer (2.05-mile)-long bridge connecting the island of Sicily across the Strait of Messina to mainland Italy.
The controversial project has been in discussions for decades, but the latest plans call for completion of the bridge by 2032.
If completed, Strait of Messina Bridge would break Turkey’s Canakkale Bridge’s record as the longest in the world at 2.02-kilometers long
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s coalition government hailed the state-funded project as an economic boost for impoverished south.
“It is not an easy task but we consider it an investment in Italy’s present and future, and we like difficult challenges when they make sense,” Meloni said, according to her office.
Transport Minister Matteo Salvini told a news conference in Rome the bridge will be “the biggest infrastructure project in the West,”
Why is the bridge controversial?
Critics have questioned the wisdom of building a record long bridge , while also pointing to its cost, the possible environmental damage it may cause and fears the mafia might infiltrate construction contracts.
Earlier this week, environmental associations filed a complaint with the European Union over serious risks from building the bridge to the local environment.
Nicola Fratoianni, an MP of the Greens and Left Alliance, slammed a “mega-project that will divert a huge amount of public resources” and “risks turning into a gigantic black hole,”
The center-left Democratic Party warned that the project “tramples environmental, safety and European norms, and common sense.”
Many believe that the mega project, which has been discussed since the 1960s, will actually never materialize. But ministers have called Wednesday’s approval by the government committee the furthest the project has ever got.
What do we know about the project?
The €13.5 billion ($15.6 billion) project has been planned for decades, with various hurdles and concerns delaying its completion.
The bridge is meant to go over the Strait of Messina, a narrow strip of water between Sicily and the region of Calabria. It should boost two railway lines in the middle and three lanes of traffic on either side.
Proponents expect it will massively cut travel time from and to Sicily, which are now delayed by ferry rides that involve long waits.
Work on the project could begin as early as September or October, Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini told reporters. He hailed the project, alongside a bundle of other new roads, railways and stations, as a “development accelerator” for impoverished Sicily and Calabria.
He even hinted that the project could also help achieve military purposes.
“It is obvious that it is dual-use and can therefore be used for security reasons too,” he said in a press conference.
Edited by: Wesley Rahn
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