The Italian government has approved a €13.5 billion project to build the world's longest suspension bridge, connecting the island of Sicily to the mainland.

After decades of planning and considerable controversy, a ministerial commission has given the green light for a state-funded bridge over the Strait of Messina, Transport and Infrastructure Minister Matteo Salvini announced.

"It will be the longest single-span bridge in the world" and will act as a "development accelerator" for the poor regions on both sides, namely the island of Sicily and the southern Italian region of Calabria, he said, quoted by AFP.

The bridge is designed with two railway lines in the middle and three lanes on each side, with a 3.3-kilometer suspension span—a world record—stretching between two 400-meter-high towers.

According to the government, the bridge, scheduled for completion in 2032, is at the pinnacle of engineering and can withstand strong winds and earthquakes in a region located on two tectonic plates.

Ministers hope it will bring economic growth, with Salvini, who is also deputy prime minister, promising that the project will create tens of thousands of jobs.

However, it has sparked local protests over its environmental impact and cost, with critics arguing that the money could be better spent elsewhere.

Other critics believe it will never be completed, pointing to Italy's long history of announced, funded but never completed public projects.

The bridge has had several false starts, with the first plans drawn up more than 50 years ago.

Eurolink, a consortium led by Italian group Webuild, won the tender in 2006, but it was canceled after the eurozone debt crisis. The consortium remains the contractor for the revived project.

This time, Rome has an additional incentive to move forward, classifying the bridge's costs as defense spending.

Debt-ridden Italy has agreed with other NATO allies to significantly increase its defense spending to 5% of GDP at the request of US President Donald Trump.

Of this, 1.5% can be spent on "defense-related" areas such as cybersecurity and infrastructure. Rome hopes that the Messina bridge will meet these criteria, especially given that Sicily is home to a NATO base. | BGNES