Matteo Salvini is not giving up on the Strait Bridge, and has approved a decree in the Council of Ministers on Infrastructure that favors the concessionaire company in its realization: the project is also approved in various phases, with more flexibility on cost increases, and more employees from the Ferrovie Group seconded to Stretto di Messina.
The Infrastructure decree authorizes the Ministry of Transport to approve the executive project “even for construction phases”, instead of “by July 31, 2024”, as initially planned in the decree on the Bridge in March 2023. In practice, the Stretto di Messina company is no longer bound to present the project by July of this year, and is allowed to present it “in pieces”.
The Infrastructure decree approved today expands the margin of maneuver on cost increases during construction. These must be calculated based on the ratio between the 2023 and 2021 tariffs, as provided for in last year’s Bridge decree. But the clause “where applicable” is inserted for these tariffs. The increases must be certified by “one or more subjects with adequate experience and professional qualifications, identified by the Ministry of Transport”. The decree increases the number of Ferrovie dello Stato Group employees who can be seconded to Stretto di Messina, from 100 to 150.
Anthony Barbagallo, the regional secretary of the Democratic Party in Sicily and a deputy in the Chamber, denounces that “the technical director of the works, engineer Valerio Mele, confirmed during a meeting at the Municipality of Messina that the executive project cannot be drawn up before the end of next year, and will therefore be delayed by about two years.”
The CEO of Stretto di Messina, Pietro Ciucci, denies that the project will be fragmented, and confirms that “by the end of the year, the approval of the final project by Cipess will take place”, the Interministerial Committee for Economic Planning and Sustainable Development. The Infrastructure decree also provides for a reorganization of the extraordinary commissioners for major works, to reduce their number and give more powers to those on the major trans-European networks: highways, railways, and air routes. The updating of the economic and financial plans of motorway concessions is simplified.
The decree provides for a commissioner for the reclamation of Stoppani in Cogoleto (Genoa) and funding for the Cisterna-Valmontone motorway and the Peschiera aqueduct, which serves Rome. A Committee at the Mase is established to identify areas for carbon capture.
Decreto Infrastrutture, la spinta di Salvini per il Ponte sullo Stretto
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