9 January 2024 – At the meeting, Stretto di Messina’s CEO, Pietro Ciucci, said: “We are proceeding swiftly and diligently. In late January or early February, I expect to submit the designers’ report, which is currently in the final stages of joint analysis by the Company, the Project Management Consultant, Parsons Transportation Group, and the Scientific Committee, to the Board of Directors for approval. Moreover, the environmental documents, the traffic study, the financial plan, including operating costs, and the sustainability report are being revised. The revised cost-benefit analysis,” Mr Ciucci explained, “reported good results and the seismic-tectonic framework of the Strait area has been updated to 2023.”

Together with an assessment of the technical and economic state of progress of the project, and taking into account the revised version of the expropriation plan in the light of the designers’ report, the meeting provided an opportunity to take stock of the compulsory purchase methods and procedures, as activities have begun to revise the agreement signed in 2011 with the municipalities of Messina and Villa San Giovanni and the local trade associations Coldiretti, the Small Property Owners Association and the Trade Union for Small Property Owners. The meeting will confirm the due attention paid to the local area with respect to such an important and delicate issue as compulsory purchase orders, and, in full compliance with the regulations, will facilitate and oversee a clear, transparent pathway that takes into account the concerns of all stakeholders. “Through mediation and dialogue between the parties,”  said Mr Ciucci, “the aim is to reach agreements with all the affected parties, and promptly identify fair compensation within appropriate timeframes, in order to find alternative solutions for housing or production facilities. Once the new agreement with the municipalities has been signed, and after the Board of Directors has approved the designers’ report, the aim is to start the procedure to obtain a declaration of public utility, to be granted by the Interministerial Committee for Economic Planning and Sustainable Development (CIPESS), on their approval of the final design for the project, which will enable the start of compulsory purchase procedures.”

Mr Ciucci also pointed out that: “In line with our recent announcements, we will soon publish a public notice to find venues for information desks to be set up in Messina and Villa San Giovanni, to enable constant and smooth communication with local citizens.”

During the meeting with Mayor Giusy Caminiti, issues relating to the expropriation plan and preliminary and complementary works for the bridge were discussed. With regard to the expropriation plan, the mayor asked CEO Ciucci to ensure continuous and close discussions with staff from the municipal technical office, in order to deal with each situation on an individual basis and assess solutions to protect the private individuals who will be affected by the plan. At the same time, work will be carried out on the memorandum of understanding and the agreement on the use of funds earmarked for communication, which will involve the municipalities of Messina and Villa San Giovanni, together with Stretto di Messina.

All of these matters were discussed again in the council chamber during an informal meeting between CEO Ciucci, Mr Saccomanno (a member of the Board of Directors of Stretto di Messina SPA), and councillors from the governing and opposition parties. After the opening remarks from the council chair, Caterina Trecroci (whose reference to Italo Calvino’s “Invisible Cities” evoked dreams and fears, but also the city’s desire for knowledge and dialogue), the chair of the local planning committee, Pietro Idone, outlined the activities of the municipal administration and the entire council, highlighting the vital role it plays in the local governance process involved in protecting the history and culture of Villa San Giovanni, but also, first and foremost, the vision of Villa San Giovanni as an “innovative and eco-friendly transport city”. Councillor Domenico De Marco and group leader Marco Santoro spoke in favour of the bridge project, recalling the work carried out during Mayor Rocco La Valle’s term of office by the Bridge and Strategic Planning Committee.

The mayor, the council, the “City on the Move” council group