Environmental watchdog Italia Nostra told the Lower House environment committee that the project is “the umpteenth white elephant”.
They added that investment is instead needed in road and rail infrastructure in Sicily and Calabria to bring the two regions in line with the rest of the country.
For its part, WWF put the emphasis on the “extremely high and unsustainable” environmental cost of the project.
The project has been the talk of many Italian governments but has never got beyond the planning stage for several reasons including environmental concerns, fear of mafia infiltration and the 10 billion euro price tag.
“The entire Strait of Messina area is a protected area” under the EU Habitats Directive, WWF Institutional Relations director Stefano Lenzi said.
Non-profit association Kyoto Club, engaged in reaching international and European greenhouse gas reduction targets, described the project as “harmful and unnecessary”.
“We can't make sense of it from a transportation perspective, and we don't see it as a priority for the country,” vice president Francesco Ferrante said.
He also said that the money would be better spent on the current ecological transition.
Parliament is in the process of converting into law a decree passed by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's cabinet in mid-March resurrecting the Messina Bridge project.
Deputy Prime Minister and Infrastructure and Transport Minister Matteo Salvini, one of the project's strongest proponents, hailed the development’s announcement as a “historic day for the whole of Italy”.
ANSA
