The joint meeting of the two municipal administrations of Messina and Reggio has laid the foundations for a historic turning point, awaited for decades between the two shores. A true integrated area of the Strait can begin to take shape, with a series of agreed measures and provisions, which do not violate the rules of the State and the two Regions and which are aimed at strengthening not only services but also, and above all, the bond between the communities living on the shores of this great salt lake. The mayors Basile and Cannizzaro strongly underlined this, and it was seen that it was not a “catwalk” for electoral purposes, but the confirmation of a commitment that had been undertaken by all the candidates for mayor, in Reggio and Messina, during the campaign of the recent administrative elections.
There is a point, however, which is not currently included in the “Strait Pact” but which will have to be addressed, sooner or later (better sooner than later), because it is decisive, affecting the daily lives of those who reside here and those who cross this stretch of sea, for study, for work, for tourism. It is the node of crossing costs. Residents in the Strait Area cannot pay the current rates charged by private shipowners. In recent weeks we have written about an important ruling from the Liguria Regional Administrative Court, which could also have significant effects on our territory. A ruling, concerning the imposition of the boarding tax on cruise passengers by the Municipality of Genoa, which confirmed a principle: particular conditions may require special legislative instruments, as highlighted by the provincial secretary of the Democratic Party Armando Hyerace, recalling that the Democratic Party has deposited a bill in Parliament, called “Messina, Gateway to the Mediterranean”, which provides, among other things, free ferry travel for residents and businesses of the metropolitan area of the Strait «through a special compensation fund, without any new tax burden on them».
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