Environmentalists slam Messina Bridge project in parliament

(ANSA) - ROME, APR 12 - Environmental associations expressed criticism of government plans to build a bridge linking Calabria and Sicily across the Strait of Messina during a parliamentary hearing on Wednesday.
    Environmental watchdog Italia Nostra told the the Lower House environment committee that the project is "the umpteenth white elephant", adding that investment is instead needed in road and rail infrastructure in Sicily and Calabria to bring the two regions into 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, which 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, said WWF Institutional Relations director Stefano Lenzi.
    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," said vice president Francesco Ferrante, adding 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 Premier Giorgia Meloni's cabinet in mid-March resurrecting the Messina Bridge project.
    Deputy Premier and Infrastructure and Transport Minister Matteo Salvini, one of the project's strongest proponents, hailed the development as a "historic day for the whole of Italy". (ANSA).