Domenico De Rosa: "The missing bridge costs us more than the one we're building—the high price of inaction."

Domenico De Rosa , CEO of the SMET Group and a logistics entrepreneur, is a staunch supporter of the construction of the Messina Strait Bridge . In an interview, De Rosa bluntly outlines his vision for the project, criticizing the failure to build an infrastructure he considers crucial to the economic future of Southern Italy and Italy as a whole.

“ The Strait Bridge is not just an infrastructure, but an opportunity we can no longer afford to ignore, ” De Rosa begins. “ Every year, 800,000 heavy vehicles cross the Strait, with direct ferry costs exceeding 200 million euros . Added to this are the inefficiencies related to downtime, which push the annual cost well over a billion euros. If we add to this the logistical premium that Sicily pays compared to the rest of the country, estimated at around 10% , it is clear that this situation is unsustainable .” And he adds: “ In Italy, we are often masters at transforming the obvious into eternal ideological debate. The Strait Bridge, more than an infrastructure, has become a national symbol of what we never manage to complete, despite having known its transformative potential for decades .”

The knight continues, highlighting the concrete problems arising from the lack of a stable connection between Sicily and the continent: " Competitiveness is not built with proclamations, but with the ability to move goods and people quickly, predictably, and at sustainable costs. The lack of a bridge between Sicily and Calabria makes the island an enclave, cut off from major European logistics flows. Rail marginality, with only two or three freight trains a day, sanctions Sicily's exclusion from the Scandinavian-Mediterranean TEN-T corridor, which is one of Europe's strategic backbones ."

Regarding the numerous objections that continue to emerge regarding the project's construction, Cavaliere De Rosa is clear: " Even today, we hear talk of 'different priorities' or 'roads needing to be fixed first,' as if these were excuses for inaction. This is a mistake. The Bridge replaces nothing, but enables everything. Its construction would not only solve the problems associated with maritime traffic, but would also encourage the construction of ancillary works—roads, railway hubs, interconnections—which are currently languishing in the planning limbo ."

Regarding the cost of the project, which has often been the subject of discussion, De Rosa emphasizes: " The bridge has an estimated cost of around 13.5 billion euros , spread over ten years. But the real question we must ask ourselves is: how much does it cost us not to have it? Every year we lose a sum equivalent to that amount in inefficiencies and logistical costs ."

The entrepreneur doesn't hide his frustration at the political inability to complete the project, despite its obvious potential: " We are a G7 country, with a world-class engineering industry. We build bridges and tunnels in contexts far more complex than that of the Strait. There is no doubt that we are capable of doing it. Yet, on this great, unique and unrepeatable project, we remain stagnant, fearful, and disunited ."

For Cavalier De Rosa, the issue of the Strait of Messina Bridge isn't just a local issue, but concerns the entire country: " The South needs transformative infrastructure, not small stopgap measures. Sicily needs to fully integrate into the European logistics system, not remain isolated. It's not a question of identity, but of efficiency. It's not ideology, it's industrial logic. "

Finally, the Knight concludes with an appeal to politicians and the ruling class: " Every day we spend without the bridge is a missed opportunity for the country's economy. The bridge is engineering applied to the future. Not building it today is a choice, and that choice comes at a price we are already paying dearly ."