The construction site for the Messina
Strait Bridge will be opened by the end of the year, Transport
and Infrastructure Minister Matteo Salvini said Wednesday.
He said first 239 answers to the same number of queries from the
environment ministry would be answered.
"There are 239 questions from the Ministry of the Environment to
which 239 answers will be given by September, so it is clear
that if they have taken an extra four months to give all the
possible and imaginable environmental guarantees, which is only
right that they should, by the end of the year the objective is
to approve the final project and start with the construction
site," said at the annual meeting of influential catholic lay
group Communion and Liberation in Rimini.
Salvini said last month that he is hopeful the worksites for the
project to build the world's longest suspension bridge across
the Strait of Messina to connect Sicily to the Italian mainland
can be opened by the end of the year.
Since becoming infrastructure minister in 2022, Salvini has
pushed strongly to revive the project, which was mooted by
successive past centre-right governments but never actually
started due to many factors, including fears of mafia
infiltration, environmental concerns, and the significant cost.
The bridge currently has a price tag of some 14.6 billion euro
and is scheduled to come into use in the late 2030s.
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