One month before the deadline, the Government is trying to allocate the 160 million euros needed to freeze the dispute with Pergenova Breakwater, the contractor for Phase A of the new breakwater for the port of Genoa, and to set the completion date for the end of March 2028.
As reported by SHIPPING ITALY, the amount had been identified in the summer by the addendum to the contract between the Port System Authority of Genoa and the contractor for the construction of the work. An act that resulted from the comparison between the parties – the details of which were never made public as the Authority has always refused to publish the documents produced by the Technical Advisory Board, the body precisely responsible for regulating disputes – and which, in essence, recognized the contractor’s claimed extra cost of 160 million euros, about two-thirds relating to the need to strengthen the soil consolidation initially planned and the rest attributable to unspecified delays by the contracting authority.
The agreement had the value of a final settlement of the disputes that had emerged up to that point and also included the aforementioned rescheduling of the completion date. But it was precisely conditional on the Adsp securing the funds by the end of the year. Hence the initiative of some parliamentarians from the League, the party of the Minister of Infrastructure and Transport Matteo Salvini, who inserted and highlighted an amendment to the Budget Law whereby “in order to guarantee the completion of the works for Phase A of the Genoa breakwater, an additional expenditure of 160 million euros for the year 2027 is authorized for the execution of the works necessary for the seabed consolidation and the activities provided for by the project variation.” The new allocation adds to the 143 million already recognized in recent months by the Government for the start of Phase B works.
The measure for the breakwater is one of the very few concerning port matters. Among the highlighted amendments, in fact, only the one signed by the Democratic Party for the inclusion of port work among those “arduous” and the one from the League to expand (qualitatively) the spending possibilities of the extraordinary commissioner for the revival of the Savona terminal’s cableway plant are noted.
After the demonstration in Rome by trade unions and employers’ associations, the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport announced that it had “taken note of the concerns expressed by the Trade Union Organizations and shared by the Employers’ Associations of the port sector regarding the fund to support the early exit of port workers. In the afternoon, Deputy Minister Edoardo Rixi met with representatives of Filt-Cgil, Fit-Cisl and Uiltrasporti, as well as the employers’ associations, confirming that the full operation of the fund is a matter of importance for the Mit.”
To this end, the deputy minister “has ordered the start of a discussion process with the competent ministries — the Ministry of Economy and Finance and the Ministry of Labor and Social Policies — with the aim of identifying a definitive solution within certain timeframes, in compliance with current regulations and the agreements signed between the parties, through the establishment of a permanent table. The Ministry – states a note – is determined to close this chapter, ensuring that Italy maintains its course as a strategic hub in the Mediterranean, enhancing every single worker.”
A.M.
