Posted on 10/12/2006 8:06:48 AM PDT by Republicain
Italy has abandoned controversial plans to build a bridge between the country's mainland and the island of Sicily. The structure would have crossed the Messina Straits, forming the world's longest single-span suspension bridge.
But Italian MPs voted to scrap the proposed construction, saying they had other priorities for Italy's impoverished southern island.
There were also concerns that organised crime networks could hijack the lucrative project.
A total of 272 MPs voted in favour of abandoning the bridge proposal, while 232 voted to continue.
Earthquake risk
The project had been promoted by former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. Two motions put forward by his centre-right Forza Italia party to keep the bridge project did not pass.
News about the project, on the drawing board since the 1960s, was greeted with fury by centre-right deputies.
"Prodi's government is against Sicily," said Renato Schifani, a Sicilian member of parliament for Forza Italia.
"It wants to strike at our region, where the majority of voters opted for the right."
But many experts had warned that the vast project would inevitably enrich southern Italy's organised crime networks.
There were also fears that the bridge, some 4km (2.5 miles) in length, would not be capable of withstanding an earthquake.
The motion included proposals to spend some of the money set aside for the project, estimated at 4.4bn euros ($5.5bn; £2.9bn), on other transport improvements on the island, which has long been economically weaker than the mainland.
I thought this was a done deal. Maybe it's for the best.
ROTFLMAO.
What bridge is that?
Organized crime in Sicily?
The planed bridge. Virtual image.
Sicily, organized crime, who would have thunk it.
Sicily is on my list of places to see.
Capo d’Orlando, Sicily, Italy
Why can't they just buy more ferries?
Because its not San Francisco?
</sarcasm>
BTW - I did not find Sicily "Impoverished" as the article claimed. Palermo was lovely. The countryside was sparsely populated but not ramshackle. The wine was excellent.
Sicily is loud, dirty and the Vespas will run you over in a heartbeat. The roadsides are full of trash.
The people are friendly, passionate, beautiful and the food is out of this world.
Recently I was in the water on the beaches of Teramino (sp?) and it was so clear I could see my toes in the water and the "toe" of the boot of Italy. The water was cool and refreshing. One of my favorite moments ever.
I can't wait to go back!
if you want to get a preview of what a young, beautiful girl will look like, see her mother. (no offense to moms)
What happens to Italian women as they age? Do they swap bodies in an alien space ship?
Yea, but if she's gonna get blown up in two weeks, it won't matter what her mom looks like.
Sicily gets the boot!
One of the Italian Sirens that lured seamen to their deaths in the Straits of Messina since the time of Odysseus!
Yousa kidden! Right?
Can't find a dedcent picture of the town in which I was born, which is in the dead center of the country, between Rome and Naples, but here's a picture of a town very nearby, and nearly identical.
anchors aweigh matey. (una bella ragazza)
Here's Queen Elizabeth II coming out of the northern end of the straits a few miles behind us the last time I went through.
A friend of mine was born in Sicily, and she was visiting there this summer. I e-mailed her this article, and then she called me to say that Sicily is not "impoverished." She said it was impoverished after WW2.
Italian sirens swallowing seamen. And yet they still keep on, um, going there.
I know nothing about bridges, but the Mackinac Bridge is about 5 miles long. And San Francisco has bridges that have withstood earthquakes. So why is this bridge such a big deal? I didn't even realize the island was that close to the mainland.
Palermo
Some of the more famous English poets could have chosen anywhere in the world to live, but they chose Italy. I've not been that far north either, I'd like to see that as well.
I hear the lakes in northern Italy are beautiful.
Any photos from the North are just breathtaking; Tuscan villas with a panorama that is probably matched only by Switzerland. I'd like to visit Northern Europe too. Hopefully they'll get their act together, and prevent the you-know-who hordes from destroying them, so they'll still be there for many a generation to come. Ireland must be beautiful too, so plush with green. So many places, so little time.
This puts me in mind of a rather racist joke that Italians like to tell about Sicillians, but you will have to freepmail me to hear it.
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday..............
We age beautifully.
You've got mail.
I think I know that joke too. SHADDAP! :D
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