Bridge over the Strait, the front against expropriations sharpens its weapons

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On good days from here, from Torre Faro, Messina, you can see the detail of Cannitello, Villa San Giovanni, Calabria. This is also what they call the magic of the Strait of Messina. Today these two strips of land share a common destiny: they are the landing places of the pillars of the Strait Bridge. And on both fronts the owners of the houses affected by the expropriation plan published in recent days are mobilised: no pasaran is the motto. Defending one’s homes, defending this landscape and defending a place that is a symbol of biodiversity are instead the cornerstones of a battle that does not intend to stop at the first difficulty.

But beyond those directly involved and beyond those who, for various reasons, have joined the No Bridge battle, let’s say above all, the skeptics’ party is advancing, expanding: either because it is believed that the legal battle will be effective, or because “until I see I don’t believe” but above all because many are convinced that it is a “large political propaganda operation that is only useful to some”. To whom it is easy to imagine: to the Minister of Infrastructure and Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini. We say it because they, often directly affected by the works of the Bridge and owners of homes or commercial activities that might be expropriated or in any case limited due to the presence of the construction sites, prefer not to pronounce the minister’s name. And not out of fear. So, he doesn’t like it.

The process continues, construction sites within the year

In the meantime, the MIT is moving forward: on 16 April, at 11am, the Conference of Investigation Services was called at the MIT, we read in a note from the ministry: all the ministries and State Administrations involved, the Calabria Regions, are invited to participate at the table and Siciliana, the municipalities, as well as the managing bodies of the infrastructure networks (gas and energy, for example) recipients of any interference. «The project documentation will be made available to everyone, in order to allow the widest possible participation and appropriate assessments. This is the first operational step which marks the start of activities for the finalization of the construction sites within the year”. In the next few days, the Notice of initiation of the procedure aimed at affixing the pre-arranged constraint to the expropriation will be published in the national and territorial newspapers of Sicily and Calabria, preparatory to the declaration of Public Utility which will be sanctioned with the approval of the definitive project of the Bridge on the Strait by Cipess.

Cannitello’s hopes for progress, doubts and fears

There is no shortage of opening positions from those who would like to place their trust in this work which promises to bring well-being, work and prosperity to this piece of Italy caught between the ambition of becoming a safe haven for national and international tourism and the harsh reality of being a land of passage, a place for short and sometimes even fleeting holidays. Despite the beauty of the places, it is enough to go to Scilla in the evening, on the Calabrian shore, to find yourself in front of a postcard, an imaginative, almost painted, evocative place. And so on in this part of the Calabrian coast which we observe with trepidation from the ferry but we do not imagine it might be a landing place for our and other people’s holidays. In Cannitello, a hamlet of Villa San Giovanni, where one of the pillars of the Bridge will be placed, only the churches are open on the evening of Holy Thursday. Indeed, to be precise, the Boccaccio bar, pastry shop and ice cream shop is also open, right on the seafront. We are right on the edge of the area included in the expropriation plan but the owner Giovanni Sottilaro already knows that once the construction site opens it will be difficult to continue working and it will be difficult to carry on this activity which has been going on for 45 years: «Selfishly – he says – I sorry to leave. But for the future of the children it is worth making a sacrifice: there is nothing here, they only really work two months a year, for the rest you can see that there is no one. But they really have to build the Bridge.” Already the kids, the young people, the future: «They’ve all gone away» says Francesco, the thirty-year-old son, a master ice cream maker who is already promising to see all the trophies and scrolls displayed in the place. Which he adds: “There were thirty of us in my class, there are three of us left.” All the others went to work elsewhere: in the North obviously. There is a lack of work but there is also a lack of “the quality of life in a place like Villa San Giovanni which is only a place of passage” adds Don Antonio, the parish priest, a man from Palermo who has been in Cannitello for 15 years now. Will the Bridge be able to help solve many problems? «We’ll see – he adds but it seems without great conviction -. In the meantime, there are many things to consider and among these the noise pollution that this great work will bring.” It certainly won’t help the quality of life for those who live in Cannitello, it seems. Rossella Bulsei set up the ‘Ti Tengo Stretto’ committee and is ready for new initiatives with the Sicilian committees, she explains: «A house is not just an economic investment, it is instead people’s lives. There are no paintings in my house, I open the window and the work of art in the frame is the Strait.” In these parts, complaints and legal actions are being studied to block the progress of the work while there is still time.