The presidents of the Sicily Region Nello Musumeci and of the Calabria Region Roberto Occhiuto challenge the government and open the Strait of Messina to the unvaccinated.
The first to issue the ordinance was Musumeci: from 2 pm passengers without Super Green passes headed to the Peninsula are also allowed to cross the Strait with ferries. For those who do not have the reinforced certificate, a swab with a negative result is enough to board the boat. The same faculty is recognized to the inhabitants of the smaller Sicilian islands.
The governor signed the order "24 hours after the last appeal addressed to Minister Speranza, following the one addressed on January 5 to Prime Minister Draghi".
The provision states that "persons who use open ships for maritime connections in the Strait of Messina aboard cars or other means of transport are prohibited from abandoning the same means for the entire time of the crossing".
If, on the other hand, it is a question of pedestrians, “they are obliged to remain in the open common areas of the boats, while on the contrary access to the closed rooms is prevented. In any case, it is mandatory for all passengers to keep an Ffp2 mask worn for the entire period of stay on board the aforementioned means of transport ".
An order that overrides government decrees will most likely be challenged by Palazzo Chigi. Musumeci explains it thus: "We must guarantee and safeguard territorial continuity, access and use of maritime means of public transport for crossing the Strait of Messina as well as for connections to and from the Sicilian minor islands".
“It is absurd - argues Musumeci - that in the Peninsula every citizen without a vaccine can move from one region to another, while to pass from Sicily to Calabria one must show the green certificate. Everyone knows that I have never been generous with the no vax, but here even the belonging of Sicily to the rest of Italy is questioned ”.
CALABRIA - In the evening the order of Occhiuto arrived to heal the vulnus. Without a similar provision of the Calabrian governor, in fact, the unvaccinated Sicilians could have left the island but they would not have been able to return there.
The basic Green pass, therefore also a negative buffer, is enough to use the means of maritime connection between Calabria and Sicily. Those who are not vaccinated will have the obligation to remain in their respective vehicles for the entire time of the crossing and, pedestrians, to park in the open common areas of the boats keeping distance and wearing an Ffp2 mask. Access to closed premises is allowed only to holders of the enhanced certification.
(Unioneonline / L)
