Italy’s Salvini urges cabinet to defy court and forge ahead with Sicily bridge plan

Italy's Infrastructure Minister Matteo Salvini urged the government on Thursday to ignore a court of auditors' decision to block the construction of a bridge connecting Sicily to the mainland, saying the local economy depended on the plan.

Italy's Infrastructure Minister Matteo Salvini urged the government on Thursday to ignore a court of auditors' decision to block the construction of a bridge connecting Sicily to the mainland, saying the local economy depended on the plan. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni called an urgent meeting of key advisers on Thursday to discuss the court's refusal to sanction the project, which is earmarked to cost the state some 13.5 billion euros ($15.7 billion).

The court did not immediately provide its motivations, but during a hearing on Wednesday legal counsel questioned whether the tender, originally carried out in 2005, was still valid and pointed to a surge in the projected costs. The government can decide to sidestep the ruling and plough ahead regardless, ignoring the threat of possible legal action from the many opponents of the controversial venture.

SALVINI SAYS GOVERNMENT SHOULD IGNORE COURT DECISION "My proposal is to return to the cabinet and approve the project again. Then parliament will approve it," Salvini told daily Corriere della Sera.

"Billions are at stake here, hundreds of thousands of jobs are at stake, and thousands of companies are ready to go. Stopping us is absurd," said Salvini, who heads the far-right League party. Construction work had been due to start this year. Meloni denounced the court decision as a political manoeuvre, made against the backdrop of tensions with the judiciary over a radical government shake-up of the country's legal system on which parliament is set to vote on Thursday.

However, it is not clear whether she will risk defying the court and defend an initiative that is closely associated with Salvini, who resurrected the project after it was initially dropped in 2012 due to high costs. Critics say the planned 3.7-km (2.3-mile) suspension bridge between Messina and Calabria will be harmful to the environment, noting the area has suffered devastating earthquakes in the past.

The contract had been awarded to the Eurolink consortium following an international tender some 20 years ago. Led by Italy's Webuild, it includes Spanish group Sacyr and Japan's IHI. The original cost was put at just 3.8 billion euros.

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