First of all, the territory will be looked at in the next steps which will lead to the start of the construction sites for the bridge over the Strait. It becomes important in an area where unemployment rates have reached record levels (in Messina the national primacy for women over 26%) to prepare workers and technicians. This was underlined by the national president of FormaTemp Francesco Verbaro which provided dramatic numbers and showed the way forward. This was also discussed in the forum held at the Raya in Panarea. Promoter Lega Senator Nino Germanà. To ensure an imminent table that goes in this direction, the Undersecretary of Labour, Claudio Duringon and the Vice President of the Region, Luca Sammartino. A table in which WeBuild will participate. “The Strait bridge – he underlined Lino Morgante president of the Ses and editorial director of the Gazzetta del Sud – has always been one of our strong points together with the infrastructures, from airports to motorways. to railways, to ports. Anyone who approaches the bridge issue in an ideological manner is wrong. You have to look at the numbers. And the numbers tell us that Sicily and the entire country need it. We have always been open to everyone’s contributions and opinions, no ideological yes or no.”
The undersecretary Durigon in his speech he highlighted that «among the many positive things that the Bridge over the Strait will bring, there is certainly work. It will be a major infrastructural work, an important form of economic, cultural and employment attraction. Not a cathedral in the desert as some would have us believe, but the real engine of transport sustainability in Sicily and Italy. I remind you that together with the bridge we will invest 70 billion between Sicily and Calabria which will be decisive for the growth of these territories, and will also put all the other infrastructures that can revive islands like this at the center». “It is clear – continued Durigon – that we will need trained people for the realization of this work and I am sure that the two Regions will give adequate training to the workers who will be involved in this infrastructure because only with work can we give hope of a better life. What might have seemed like a utopia – he continued – will soon become a reality thanks to the commitment and tenacity of Minister Matteo Salvini who, in this land, has seen great potential by making courageous choices. It is angering to know that for years the ideological positions of a left ready to say “no” to everything have stopped the country, denying fundamental resources for this region”.
For the vice president of the Sicilian Region, Luca Sammartino, it is a matter of «a real economic multiplier that will bring back many of our excellences. The Sicilian Region finally has a government which, together with the national one, has implemented every action to ensure that in less than a year the start of the construction site for the construction of the bridge over the Strait will be a reality. A cultural bridge, which brings together infrastructures, a development area and a region that deserves to raise awareness of the large companies that work in our area with its excellence. We have to go back to talking about a competitive Sicily, on a cultural, economic and rights level. The Sicilians have been waiting too long. Minister Matteo Salvini immediately believed in this great work in a clear way. We will be alongside the Government to ensure those active labor policies and train workers for the construction of this infrastructure. I am sure – he concluded – that the bridge will be a strategic work that will allow many excellent companies, who have gone abroad in recent years, to be able to return”.
Senator Nino Germanà is of the same opinion, secretary in the Transport Commission and secretary of the bicameral insularity Commission. «The Bridge over the Strait – he highlighted him – will allow our Sicily to make up for lost time. I consider it the Bridge to freedom, to development, to work. A strategic infrastructure for Europe but, above all, for our South, which has lagged behind the rest of the country. Citizens have paid too high a price up to now, between exorbitant costs of insularity, truly impressive pollution and an infrastructural “gap” that the bridge will allow us to recover. There are no more excuses. We have four years of governments ahead of us, national, Sicilian and Calabrian. The bridge will be built and will be a great investment attraction. The League, and the minister Matteo Salvini, have decided to bet in the South and in this great work. I feel I can reassure you that we are not behind and that the work will soon become reality and will also be built with the manpower and technicians of this beautiful land. Is there anyone talking about a referendum? There’s no need. There has already been a referendum, on September 25, when the Italians voted for the center-right and a government program with the bridge over the Strait among the priorities. Minister Salvini, on this, is a running train and we are following him ».
WeBuild will have to say which and how many technicians will be needed. “But training is up to the Region – underlined Verbaro Messinese doc – It’s time we look at the professionalism that serves the territory and not the courses that serve the institutions”. And then a series of numbers that speak volumes about how much the labor market is in crisis in the Steetto area. Messina is responsible for two negative records. The unemployment rate in Sicily is 17%. In Messina it reaches 21.5%, which represents the regional record. The female unemployment rate is 26.4%. And this gives Messina the sad record national. In Reggio Calabria the unemployment figures are 13.1% for men and 15.5% for women. The emigration chapter is naturally closely linked. Messina, in 2021, lost 12,222 inhabitants. Reggio Calabria 10,000. Sicily , according to the median demographic forecasts, will pass by proceeding at this rate in 2070 to have 3 million and 105 thousand inhabitants against the current 4 million and 833 thousand. Returning to the training chapter, engineers with specific experience will be needed – explained Verbaro – the risk is that they be imported. A specific training plan involving the Region, technical institutes and universities will be needed. For this reason, the needs in the various areas must be defined as soon as possible in order to be able to increase the employment rate of the whole of eastern Sicily and Calabria. We are late as usual. But we can and must recover. The important thing is to leave immediately.”