Lightning that took shape yesterday in a note from the Strait of Messina company. As part of the ongoing environmental impact assessment procedure, «in agreement with the general contractor Eurolink», the company, we read, «considered it appropriate to request the Mase a 120-day suspension of the deadlines for submitting additional documentation request which, with the new deadlines, will be delivered by mid-September 2024″. Evidently the over 200 questions asked by the ministry commission led by Gilberto Pichetto Fratin are not as ordinary as was initially claimed.
Requests for further information: from costs to tsunami risk
In fact, said the CEO of the Stretto di Messina company, Pietro Ciucci, «the decision is motivated by the exceptional relevance of the work and reflects the will and maximum commitment of the company in providing timely and exhaustive responses to the requests for additions and clarifications on the technical documents of the definitive project of the bridge over the Strait of Messina, presented by the Via e Vas del Mase Commission”. Some in-depth studies – continues Ciucci – the same one that initially downplayed Mase’s requests – «involve field investigations, such as further faunal, terrestrial, bathymetric and underwater surveys, to which the company intends to dedicate the utmost attention, making full use of the time allowed by the legislation”. The Ministry of the Environment’s requests for further information touch on many important aspects of the project. In particular, in addition to the environmental impact of the work, also the cost-benefit analysis, the management organization of the construction sites, an updated analysis of the “tsunami hazard conditions”.
The reactions of the opposition
The reactions of the oppositions who have always been against the construction of the work were immediate. “It’s bad news for Salvini who focused his electoral campaign in the South on the bridge, but good news for those who really care about the South”, claims Sandro Ruotolo , candidate of the Democratic Party in the southern constituency. For the M5S Salvini is “worse than engineer Cane”, the character of the actor Fabio De Luigi who, between one gag and another, aspired to build the bridge over the Strait. “The minister who was supposed to open construction sites in three months is now clashing with his fake promises”, accuses the Movement. For the committee «Instead of the Citizens bridge for the sustainable development of the Strait area» the «big bluff has been unmasked, this bridge is unfeasible, the king is naked»
