A destruction order was readied
and the recovery of belongings from evacuated flats under
Genoa's wrecked Morandi Bridge was suspended Monday after creaks
were heard from the eastern pillar of the structure that
collapsed killing 43 on August 14.
Fire teams stopped their operations after the creaks were
heard overnight and again Monday morning, local sources said.
They were not noises caused by the wind, fire services said.
Technical checks have been started.
Genoa prosecutors said they were ready to order the
destruction of the remainder of the bridge if fire services
flagged "concrete danger" in the wake of the creaking.
The local magistrates said they were ready to "authorise the
destruction of the rump" of the bridge if they received
confirmation from fire services.
Design flaws and poor maintenance have been blamed for the
disaster, which garnered headlines worldwide.
Interior Minister Matteo Salvini said the government was
"studying" the nationalisation of motorway operator Autostrade
per l'Italia.
"We are studying and working, we certainly won't give out the
presents that some gave in the past, when some signed measures
that allowed private companies to earn billions and made
Italians pay billions," he said.
The government is seeking to revoke the license of
Autostrade, which is controlled by the Benetton group through
the Atlantia group, after the disaster which sent shock waves
across Italy and came after a string of less serious collapses
in recent years.
Atlantia on Monday plunged a theoretical 9% on the Milan
bourse after being taken out of trading for excessive volatility
yet again.
Autostrade said Monday it was lifting toll payments across
Genoa's highway network for the foreseeable future.
A probe into the collapse is focusing on a bridge crane
whose heavy weight may have caused the bridge to buckle, sources
said Monday.
Prosecutors' sources said they may soon add culpable
vehicular homicide to the charges of culpable multiple homicide,
attack on transport safety and culpable disaster.
But the heavy bridge crane can't have contributed to the
collapse because it hadn't been installed yet, the firm carrying
out the work said.
"The bridge crane can't have contributed to the collapse of
the Morandi Bridge, because it was not yet installed," said
Hubert Weissteiner, head of the Velturno-based Weico firm.
"We were working on the installation of the rails on which it
was supposed to have run, but which never started work," he
said.
There are already "many resources" in the EU's structural
funds, the Juncker Plan and the Italian motorway plan, and "the
issue is setting priorities," European Economic Affairs
Commissioner Pierre Moscovici said Monday.
He was commenting on the Italian government's plan for
infrastructure spending outside the EU's Stability and Growth
Pact.
"We will examine the stability bill (budget) on the basis of
the rules and with one eye on the debt," Moscovici said.
He said "constructive dialogue" with Economy Minister
Giovanni Tria would continue on this.
Cabinet Secretary Giancarlo Giorgetti said he could not "rule
out" the 2019 budget breaking the EU's 3% to GDP rule.
Speaking on Sky TG24 on the possibility of breaching the key
parameter to fund a major infrastructure maintenance and
construction programme, Giorgetti said "I'm not ruling anything
out".
"Let's hope (public works) will be judged in a different way
by the EU," he said.
"It will be a difficult negotiation, but we intend to do it
because we think we're in the right".
The Italian-German bond yield spread could hit 470 points if
the League-Five Star government breaches the 3% deficit to GDP
limit, according to a new poll of international investment banks
by Bloomberg including JpMorgan, Morgan Stanley, Commerzbank,
Ing and Danske.
The previous Democratic Party (PD) led government hiked
motorway maintenance by 80%, former transport minister Graziano
Delrio said Monday.
"Each of us must understand the limits of political action:
we did a 130 billion infrastructure plan, we raised maintenance
by 80%, but you don't always reap what you sow," he said.
"This remains a fragile country," said the PD bigwig.
Delrio said that alleged government "lies" on a supposed
motorway contract extension "dishonoured" the 43 victims.
"There was no extension of the concession from 2038 to 2042,"
said Delrio, a leading member of the formerly ruling Democratic
Party (PD).
"Since the collapse of the Genoa bridge too many lies have
been told, which among other things dishonour the dead," he
said.
In other news, fire services reported issues with the
Magliana Bridge in Rome in February, Salvini said.
"The firemen inspecting (the bridge) in February found some
issues, a state of decay, and then the competent structure moved
in April," he said on Italian TV.
Salvini added: "now I will have a report sent to me".
The centre-left opposition Democratic Party (PD) must
"restart" from the jeers it received at Saturday's State funeral
for Genoa bridge collapse victims, PD leader Maurizio Martina
said Monday.
"We must restart from those jeers in order to change," he
said.
While PD figures including Martina were subjected to whistles
and catcalls, League-Five Star government figures were applauded
at some of the funerals for the disaster's 43 victims.
"The only thing not to do," Martina said, "is to treat with
arrogance the climate that is crossing the country, because it
concerns us.
"The alternative to the League and the Five Stars is done by
flanking these people again.
"By putting our feet back on the streets.
"Only in this way will we defeat the danger represented by
those who rule us today".
Meanwhile former PD leader and ex-premier Matteo Renzi told
La Repubblica daily that the "Jacobin-like" treatment of the PD
would turn into a boomerang for the "presumed revolutionaries"
and that the PD would respond to it.
The first five homes were handed over to bridge evacuees on
Monday.
Premier Giuseppe Conte phoned Liguria Governor Giovanni Toti
to voice his solidarity with the evacuees.
United States President Donald Trump on Monday morning called
Conte to voice his condolences and offer assistance after the
disaster, White House spokesperson Sarah Huckabee Sanders said.
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