junctionist
Senior Member
Naples' Garbage Crisis
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NAPLES, Italy (AP) -- The Italian army was called in early Monday to help clear piles of trash that went uncollected for more than two weeks in the Naples area, while residents in a city suburb set up roadblocks to protest the reopening of a garbage dump.
Collectors stopped picking up rubbish on December 21, saying that dumps are full.
more photos »
Before dawn, army engineers used bulldozers to scoop up trash from the streets of Caserta, near Naples, working mainly around schools, which were reopening Monday after the Christmas break, the defense ministry said.
The garbage crisis in the southern port city and the surrounding Campania region began December 21, when collectors stopped picking up trash because there is no more room for it at dumps.
With garbage accumulating across the city, residents have taken to burning the stinking mounds, raising alarm over toxic fumes.
The mayor of Naples appealed to residents Saturday to stay calm over the crisis, but scattered clashes between youths and police continued, news reports said.
I-Report
Mayor Rosa Russo Iervolino said she was appealing to the "overwhelming majority" of law-abiding citizens in the Pianura neighborhood.
"Respect the law," the mayor was quoted as saying by the Italian news agency ANSA.
Garbage pileups due to shortage of space in dumps have plagued the port city sporadically for several years. Although citizens are angered by the uncollected trash, they have also blocked plans to open new dumps in the Naples area.
Groups of youths with their faces largely covered threw stones and pieces of metal at police in several parts of the Pianura neighborhood before dashing away, some of them on motor scooters, the Italian news agency Apcom reported from Naples. Police were outfitted in riot gear, ANSA said.
Officials have blamed organized crime infiltration of garbage collection services and disorganized bureaucracy for the piles of trash, on the city's outskirts and lining streets in Naples' historic center.
Italian President Giorgio Napolitano has said he was alarmed by the situation and called on officials to take up their responsibilities in resolving the problem.
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Talk about an incredible problem that must be much worse than that garbage collectors strike we saw a few years earlier. From corruption to the mafia picking up trash and even burning it by roads polluting the ground, this has become a disaster for the city.
link to article
NAPLES, Italy (AP) -- The Italian army was called in early Monday to help clear piles of trash that went uncollected for more than two weeks in the Naples area, while residents in a city suburb set up roadblocks to protest the reopening of a garbage dump.
Collectors stopped picking up rubbish on December 21, saying that dumps are full.
more photos »
Before dawn, army engineers used bulldozers to scoop up trash from the streets of Caserta, near Naples, working mainly around schools, which were reopening Monday after the Christmas break, the defense ministry said.
The garbage crisis in the southern port city and the surrounding Campania region began December 21, when collectors stopped picking up trash because there is no more room for it at dumps.
With garbage accumulating across the city, residents have taken to burning the stinking mounds, raising alarm over toxic fumes.
The mayor of Naples appealed to residents Saturday to stay calm over the crisis, but scattered clashes between youths and police continued, news reports said.
I-Report
Mayor Rosa Russo Iervolino said she was appealing to the "overwhelming majority" of law-abiding citizens in the Pianura neighborhood.
"Respect the law," the mayor was quoted as saying by the Italian news agency ANSA.
Garbage pileups due to shortage of space in dumps have plagued the port city sporadically for several years. Although citizens are angered by the uncollected trash, they have also blocked plans to open new dumps in the Naples area.
Groups of youths with their faces largely covered threw stones and pieces of metal at police in several parts of the Pianura neighborhood before dashing away, some of them on motor scooters, the Italian news agency Apcom reported from Naples. Police were outfitted in riot gear, ANSA said.
Officials have blamed organized crime infiltration of garbage collection services and disorganized bureaucracy for the piles of trash, on the city's outskirts and lining streets in Naples' historic center.
Italian President Giorgio Napolitano has said he was alarmed by the situation and called on officials to take up their responsibilities in resolving the problem.
_____
Talk about an incredible problem that must be much worse than that garbage collectors strike we saw a few years earlier. From corruption to the mafia picking up trash and even burning it by roads polluting the ground, this has become a disaster for the city.
