Italy’s Court docket of Auditors on Wednesday rejected the federal government’s plan to construct a long-debated bridge from mainland Italy to Sicily, dealing a physique blow to one among Rome’s most bold infrastructure initiatives.
The ruling quickly halts efforts to assemble the €13.5 billion bridge throughout the Strait of Messina. The court docket, which oversees public spending, introduced its determination late Wednesday and stated it will launch its full reasoning inside 30 days.
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni condemned the choice as “an act of overreach into the jurisdiction of the Authorities and Parliament,” insisting her administration had addressed all of the technical questions raised by the court docket.
“To offer an thought of the sophistry, one of many objections involved the transmission of prolonged paperwork by way of hyperlinks, as if the accounting judges have been unaware of the existence of computer systems,” Meloni stated.
Envisioned because the world’s longest suspension bridge, the Messina venture has been proposed and deserted a number of occasions over the previous 5 a long time. It has lengthy been controversial because of the dangers of seismic exercise and doubts over its financial viability, environmental influence and associated authorized considerations.
Wednesday’s ruling casts recent doubt over the venture’s future. Meloni’s authorities now faces a crucial selection: to just accept the ruling and revise the proposal, or attraction and search provisional authorization, which might make the federal government totally chargeable for the venture and any authorized penalties.
If constructed, the three.7-kilometer bridge would join the “toe” of Italy’s boot to Sicily’s northeastern tip, reworking the nation’s southern transport hyperlinks whereas rating amongst its costliest public works.
Deputy Prime Minister and Transport Minister Matteo Salvini, who as soon as opposed the bridge however is now its main advocate, denounced the court docket’s determination as inflicting “critical harm to the nation” and referred to as it “a political selection slightly than a serene technical judgment.”
“Whereas ready for the explanations, I wish to make it clear that I didn’t cease after I needed to defend the borders, and I cannot cease now,” Salvini stated. “It is a venture supported even by Europe, one that may deliver improvement and hundreds of jobs from south to north. We’re decided to take all attainable paths to start out the works. Let’s transfer ahead.”