The Board of Directors of the Strait Company of Messina has approved the latest documents that serve to start the authorization procedures for the construction of the bridge over the Strait. Also present at the meeting, the Minister of Infrastructure and Transport Matteo Salvini, who announced that the works will begin by the summer.
Before the start of the construction sites, however, two other steps will be needed. The first is the approval of the project by the Cipess, the interministerial committee for economic planning and sustainable development. The second will be the revision of the project by the Court of Auditors.
The next steps towards the start of the work of the bridge over the Strait
The documents that the close company of Messina has approved in its latest Board of Directors concern the additional documents to the contracts with the various companies involved in the construction of the bridge over the Strait and the monitoring of the project.
In particular, it is
- Eurolink, the consortium led by Webuild who will build the bridge;
- Partson Transportation Group, which will deal with the management of the project;
- Edison Next Environment, which will take care of environmental monitoring;
- Marsh, a company that will manage the various insurance companies.
This passage concludes the bureaucratic operations of the Strait Company of Messina, created by the State to organize the start of the project and find companies to carry it out. The next steps for the start of the works are:
- the approval by the Cipess;
- the revision of the Court of Auditors;
- the expropriations of the land.
Cipess and Court of Auditors
The Cipess (which before 2020 was called Cipe) is a committee that involves several ministries and which deals with the planning of public works of economic interest. It is an organ for the most political (it is chaired by the Prime Minister Meloni), even if it has some technical members inside.
The approval of the project by the Cipess does not therefore seem to doubt. Instead, the transition from the Court of Auditors is less simple, the body that controls that the expenses of the State are sustainable and in order. The bridge over the Strait should cost 13.5 billion euros, money which, however, could be considered within the increase in the expenses born in the context of defense expenses, considering it a crucial infrastructure.
Salvini’s statements after approval
The Minister of Infrastructure and Transport Matteo Salvini is satisfied, who announced that the construction sites for the bridge over the Strait should start by the end of summer. The vice premier said:
For two and a half years we have been carrying out a job that has been talked about for centuries, an avant -garde work and we are at an excellent point, not of arrival, but starting. The goal of approving the final project next week is the opening of construction sites by the summer.
Salvini also reassured the expropriations that will hit the land that are in the areas where the two pylons of the bridge will be built. The minister stressed that the owners will be compensated to a greater extent than what has been done in the past with other great public works.
