The first manifestation of the No Ponte movement was held, which opposes the construction of the bridge over the Strait of Messina, since the Cipess approved the final project of the great work wanted by the Minister of Infrastructure and Transport Matteo Salvini. Just in the Sicilian city, the demonstrators accused the government of not thinking about the needs of the territory.
Minister Salvini immediately responded to the accusations in a long interview with Corriere della Serain which he defended the reasons that led the executive to the decision to build the great work.
The first demonstration against the new bridge over the Strait
Yesterday 9 August was held in Messina, the first great demonstration against the new project of the bridge over the Strait. The citizens paraded in the streets of the Sicilian city, under the signs of the no bridge movement, which opposes the construction of the work of almost 14 billion euros, desired by the government.
This is an important step for this movement, which met in the square for the first time since the project of the bridge over the Strait received the approval of the Cipess, the Interministerial Committee for economic planning and sustainable development.
The no bridge movement is similar to many other similar movements that oppose the construction of great works on a certain territory. In technical jargon, these movements are all falling within the category of Nimby, an English acronym that means not in My Back Yard, literally “not in my courtyard”.
The reasons of the no bridge
Some of the exponents of the movement, gathered in Messina, expressed their opposition to the construction of the bridge. Federico Alagna, of the Messina no bridge assembly, told the newspaper The manifesto:
We are in the square to reiterate to Salvini that this territory is not a colony and we will not accept yet another decision fallen from above. Nobody in the government has even worried about asking what really serves this territory, I hope that the important response of the square can make them understand what the inhabitants of the Strait really think.
The main topic against the construction of the bridge therefore remains the one against its need compared to other infrastructures, of minor scope, considered more important by the local population. However, there are also many items for the preservation of the Strait of Messina from an environmental point of view. The no bridge movement also asked that the stretch of sea be inserted among the heritage of humanity.
Salvini’s answer
The Minister of Infrastructure and Transport Matteo Salvini responded directly to these criticisms in an interview with Corriere della Sera, stating that the bridge over the Strait is the opposite, as a legislative project, of citizenship income:
The League has always contested assistance, the unproductive expenditure that condemned the South to live on subsidies and not work. The bridge, on the contrary, is a work that attracts investments and wealth, exactly as the Sun Highway has been at the time. The bridge is exactly the opposite of the citizenship income or the Cassa del Mezzogiorno.
