«It is essential for us to look into all the problems of the project» states the mayor of Villa San Giovanni, Giusy Caminiti, in a document signed together with the Council in relation to the project for the construction of the Bridge over the Strait. «We must continue to remember – adds the mayor – that Villa San Giovanni is the city of the impact of the bridge on the Calabrian side of the Strait. Therefore the level of in-depth analysis that we need as a city is maximum. Villa San Giovanni is a city that develops on a wonderful coast, an area with a tourist vocation in which a kilometer and a half is occupied by the historic port and the landing places used by private ferry companies. A city that would be cut in two just from the opening of the construction site. We continue to maintain, therefore, that resolving the interference is a priority because the city absolutely cannot tolerate the construction site. We are perhaps more worried about the construction site of the work than about the work itself. For us, resolving interference means systematically addressing, first and foremost, the problem of the road network and alternative roads. We already support millions of vehicles every year and we cannot even bear the weight of the “Bridge construction site”. Our city risks disappearing under this construction site. Net of the assessments that we have read in the 42 pages of requests for documentary integration by the experts of the Via commission of the Ministry of the Environment, we cannot be told: 'we are evaluating and investigating further'. We, probably because those observations we had submitted, but we read those requests very quickly and we must say that we have our doubts precisely about the lack of documentation and studies and the lack of in-depth analysis of the project compared to a definitive standard”.
«We expect – says Mayor Caminiti – that all the problems that have been raised will be resolved and that the preliminary conference is not only aimed at expressing an opinion in 60 days, but it is truly a place for studying the technical issues related to this project.”
«A large popular demonstration against the Strait Bridge at Villa San Giovanni is scheduled for May 25th”, reports the “No bridge” movement, which held an assembly at Villa San Giovanni, in a note. «The bridge – adds the movement – is a wicked project. The 239 observations from the Ministry of the Environment did not help to calm people down. Indeed, concerns are increasing about further squandering of money in favor of design studios and the anger of those who see their life, their home, their territory as a sacrificial lamb to be sacrificed in the name of neither national nor strategic interests. We are dealing with a political class that, hiding behind the bogeyman of the Bridge, continues to fail to provide answers to the real priorities that Calabrians and Sicilians clamor for every day: real infrastructure, healthcare, schools and public services worthy of a civilized country. . And while they continue to hammer us daily with propaganda that offers us a bright future thanks to the Bridge, they are erasing our future between differentiated autonomy, vertical cuts in public spending, agricultural land transformed into expanses of photovoltaic panels and wind turbines in the name of a green which knows little about the environment and a lot about colonialism. For this reason, the demonstration on May 25th will once again have at its center a single big no to the Bridge, flanked by the many yeses that Calabria and Sicily really need. We want it to be a great popular demonstration and we renew our invitation to all associations and to all those who want to oppose this massacre, to build the initiative we have planned together.”