Messina, Strait Bridge: Angelo Bonelli denounces “Obsolete Project and Repression of Protests” [FOTO]

During an electoral meeting held today in Piazza Cairoli, for the presentation of the candidates for the next European elections, Angelo Bonelli, secretary of Green Europe and co-spokesman of the Green Left Alliance, raised a serious alarm regarding the technical validity of the Strait Bridge project of Messina and the growing repression of protests against the opera.

An obsolete project

Bonelli said that he had asked Minister Matteo Salvini a few weeks ago which technical body was responsible for validating the bridge project, underlining that, by law, this task falls to the Superior Council of Public Works with a mandatory and binding opinion. “It cannot be the private company that creates it nor the Stretto di Messina company,” Bonelli specified.

The CEO of the Stretto di Messina company responded that this opinion had already been issued. However, Bonelli discovered that the opinion dates back to 10 October 1997 and refers to a project presented on 31 December 1992. “We are talking about a project from 32 years ago, this is unacceptable,” declared the Green Europe leader. “This morning I presented the second supplementary complaint to the Public Prosecutor’s Office of Rome because I believe it is unacceptable that we are working and analyzing such an old project.”

Repression of protests

Bonelli also denounced an amendment presented in the Institutional Affairs Commission by the deputy of the League, the Honorable Iezzi, which provides for the increase of two thirds of the penalties for those who protest against the construction of strategic infrastructure works. “It is an amendment that has a clear direction: to target the protest of Sicilians and Calabrians who do not want the bridge over the Strait of Messina,” said Bonelli.

Calling the amendment an “unacceptable authoritarian turn,” Bonelli promised a tough battle in Parliament against the security bill. “We will respond very clearly,” he added, “and it will lead to an extremely tough battle in Parliament.”