Urgent need to meet the drought issue, huge potential of resources and technologies for infrastructures indispensable for water

Milan, March 22, 2024 – "The Strait of Messina Bridge is a crucial work for the development of the South of Italy, for greater employment levels, for creating know-how and for attracting young talents. We are ready to start with a unique project from an engineering perspective, ensuring the maximum levels of transparency and legality, just like in all our construction sites, creating premium quality employment, especially for the young”. This is what Webuild CEO Pietro Salini said during his interview on the Re Start programme on Italian TV channel RAI 3 today.

Salini went on to recall that all tests relating to the Strait of Messina Bridge were made by main world-renowned experts, and that the project has been unanimously approved by the Technical-Scientific Committee. “Large infrastructural works are oftentimes at the very heart of many debates when they are being built. This is what happened for the Autostrada del Sole motorway, and for the Italian high-speed railways, which as of today we could never do without”.

Salini highlighted the sector's importance in providing employment and a future to the young women and men, especially in the South of Italy, where the numbers of the unemployed young are amongst the highest in Europe. “Webuild is active in Italy with 31 projects, of which 19 of these in the South. In Italy, we are almost 17,000 people, and we foresee to hire a further 10,000, 88% of which in the South of Italy, by 2026: resources with specialized skills that we cannot find on the market, and who we are therefore hiring and training. We in fact created the Cantiere Lavoro Italia programme with training centres that allow ensuring greater competitiveness in the sector. We estimate training 1,300-1,400 people every year. Our wish is to allow the South of Italy a new start, as this area of the nation has been left behind for too many years, but that is now instead seeing a new unprecedented phase of investments in infrastructure and employment. We are also localizing new production centres in the South of Italy too. In Sicily, we have, in fact, already opened a first automated factory that produces precast concrete segments to line the tunnels of the high-capacity railways that are being built on the island by the Group, and we will soon be opening a second in Enna. Investing in technology, innovation and skills in the South of Italy must be the main goal of the nation now, so that we stop losing precious resources”. 

“And in the South, new investments in the water sector must also be made, as this precious resource risks not reaching the homes of citizens and the industries present there, due to the drought issue. And there really is a huge potential in the sector. The Italian water sector, during the last five years, invested 59 euros per inhabitant, 23 euros less than the European average summed to the UK one together, and the National Resilience Plan (PNRR) only dedicates 4% to the water sector. Italy has obsolete water infrastructures that loose over 40% of water during the distribution phase. It is in fact the fourth worse-off nation in the European Union: 60% of the water infrastructures go back more than 30 years, and 25% date back to over 50 years. Moreover, only 4% of the wastewater is destined for reuse in agriculture”.

Webuild has been leading already for many years the water sector, both with regard to desalination and wastewater treatment, and also for dam purposes. Over 20 million people are daily served by the plants constructed by its subsidiary Fisia Italimpianti, while another 16 million people approximately will benefit from the currently ongoing construction works that are building new hydraulic infrastructures. “On this front, I must say, we are very active. Especially in the Middle East, where drought is a central topic. But we are also here now to serve Italy, so that even here the water issue can be solved", ended Salini.