Ponte Stretto, halt by Colle to Salvini: 'There are already anti-mafia rules'. But the deputy prime minister insists

Machine backwards on the Infrastrutture dl regulation that entrusted the anti-mafia supervision of the Ponte sullo Stretto bridge to the Viminale's Struttura per la prevenzione antimafia (which also supervises the Milan-Cortina construction sites). A decision arrived at by the Quirinale due to a question of overlapping investigations precisely on the subject of mafia infiltration, choosing the road of ordinary control over the Ponte contracts and not the 'extraordinary' one used on occasions of emergency or events.

Infrastructure Minister Matteo Salvini, however, insists: the League announces an amendment to the decree with the aim of re-proposing the rule on anti-mafia controls. And the Carroccio leader comments: 'I think and hope that no one is opposed to inserting as many controls as possible against mafia infiltration. I don't think the Quirinale is against anti-mafia bodies. We simply ask that for the Messina Strait Bridge there be the same controls that there were for the Morandi Bridge in Genoa, for the Milan Expo, for the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics'.

"The rule on anti-mafia controls was not contained in the text previously sent to the Quirinale, but appeared a few hours before the Council of Ministers meeting. Current legislation provides for strict anti-mafia rules for works such as the Messina bridge. Instead, the proposed rule envisaged a special procedure - adopted so far only in cases of emergency, such as earthquakes, or special events, such as the Olympics - that is by no means stricter than the ordinary rules. Suffice it to say that the special procedure, which was proposed, also authorises derogations from some of the rules laid down in the anti-mafia code, derogations that are not allowed by the ordinary rules for strategic works of national interest," the Quirinale press office specified in a note, "in reference," it explained, "to some inaccuracies that have appeared in today's press in relation to the Infrastructure decree.

The Quirinale's decision did not please Infrastructure Minister Matteo Salvini, who on Monday had announced the assignment of supervisory duties to Piantedosi's structure. "We will ask for maximum rigour, maximum transparency, more powers to the Ministry of the Interior and the Prefectures to verify that there are no infiltrations. From my point of view it was important, someone thought differently, it will mean that it will be Parliament that puts the maximum guarantees in place,' Salvini said on the sidelines of a visit to the construction sites of the new port causeway in Genoa. And he added: 'It is clear that when there are the Olympics, the Tav, important works in Genoa, Messina or Rome, it is necessary to be totally vigilant, since in Messina there will be more than a hundred thousand jobs at stake and thousands of companies involved, it is in my interest that the Prefectures, the Prosecutor's Office, the associations, the unions, can have the maximum of vigilance and transparency.

The Carroccio keeps to the point. On Friday, 23 May, it announced: 'Already ready for the Chamber, the proposal of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister Matteo Salvini to increase to the maximum, as has already been done successfully for the reconstruction of the bridge in Genoa, for Expo and for the Olympics, checks and anti-mafia certifications for all contracts, supplies and services on the thousands of companies that will work on the bridge and on the more than 100,000 workers involved.