Italy’s decision to start construction of a bridge connecting Sicily to the Italian mainland has already sparked a flood of possible lawsuits that could seriously delay a project, Reuters writes.
The right-wing government of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni gave the go-ahead for the bridge on the 6th of August. The possible link across the Strait of Messina has been discussed since the 1960s, and the project is now expected to cost 13.5 billion euros.
Mariolina De Francesco, a 75-year-old resident of the Sicilian city of Messina, said she could be offered three times the price of her house, but it didn’t matter: “What matters is the landscape. They must not touch the Strait of Messina.”
More than 440 properties in Sicily and the Calabria region are set to be expropriated to make way for the bridge’s structures and to allow for road and rail connections. De Francesco, whose property is next to the site where the 399-meter-long bridge’s support towers will be erected, said lawyers would take action and residents would stop the project.
Italy’s Infrastructure Minister, Matteo Salvini, said
preparatory work could begin in September or October,
and generous compensation was being promised to those who will give up their properties. The government hopes the bridge will be completed by 2032.
The Messina Strait Company, the company overseeing the project, is already preparing for legal battles, and the company’s CEO said he would be very busy and the legal issues would take up a lot of his time.
Conservation groups filed a complaint with the European Union this week, citing risks to the local ecosystem.
Local residents say the region’s environmental value and seismic activity make it unsuitable for the bridge’s infrastructure. There are also concerns that the work will be delayed and that the noise will make the neighborhoods uninhabitable. The Messina Strait Company said the bridge would be designed to withstand very strong earthquakes and would not be built on fault lines. It also promised to take steps to ensure that it does not harm habitats and protected species. Working hours and the impact of construction activities, including noise levels, would be strictly monitored.
The project also has supporters. Giuseppe Caruso, 71, sitting his bicycle near the beach, said
the bridge would provide jobs for young people and perhaps even bring change to Sicily,
where he prefers to keep things as they are.
Authorities have vowed to keep a close eye on the project to ensure that the mafia, known for its involvement in the region’s lucrative public works projects, is not involved. The government is also considering including the bridge in the defence budget, which would make it easier for Italy to reach its 5% of GDP defence budget.
Activists and lawyers have said that around 1,000 people could lose their homes, and the huge cost of the project could also breach EU procurement rules. Antonio Saitta, a representative of Messina residents, said that Italy is a country subject to EU rules of law, and even the government must respect them.
The cost of the project has risen from 8.5 billion euros in 2011 to 13.5 billion euros. The Messina Strait Company said the sharp increase was due to the rise in the price of construction materials. Saitta said that the main way to stop the bridge project was to file a lawsuit.
Gianluca Maria Esposito, professor of administrative law at the University of Rome, stressed that in such cases the public interest must take precedence over individual interests, and stopping the project will be challenging. He added that citizens are entitled to compensation, but they cannot ask for anything more, and they cannot block the project.
Read also: Italy plans to give green light to Messina Strait bridge project