Transport and Infrastructure Minister Matteo Salvini said that construction on what will be the world’s longest suspension bridge is set to start in the autumn.
“If we keep going as we have started, the goal is to be able to cross the bridge between 2032 and 2033, which is what the engineers predict,” Salvini told a press conference.
“Now the stamp of Court of Auditors is needed, but I count on starting with construction sites, works and expropriations between September and October.”
The project includes the construction of a 3.3-kilometre suspension bridge, 40 kilometres of road and rail links, three new train stations and a business centre in Calabria.
The project, which had been championed by late three-time prime minister and media mogul Silvio Berlusconi, had been set aside for over five decades due to its high cost, concerns about its environmental impact, earthquake risks and possible mafia infiltration.
But the bridge does have strong support from those who believe a fast rail and road connection as an alternative to the current ferry crossing would provide a much-needed boost to Sicily and the rest of Italy's poorer southern regions.
Webuild has estimated the construction could create more than 100,000 jobs.
But it was revived by Salvini after the centre-right’s victory in the 2022 general election.
Salvini said that the government will be vigilant against mafia infiltration of the project “24 hours a day”.
“Countering any attempt of infiltration will be our raison d’être,” he said.
“We are all adopting protocols with the interior minister as we did for Expo [Milano 2015] and the [2026 Milano Cortina Winter] Olympics.
“We have to watch the whole supply chain so that it is impervious to ill-intentioned people.
“If you don’t build the bridge because the mafia and ‘ndrangheta exist, then we won’t do anything anymore,” he added.
ANSA/AAP
