Epress.am News from Armenia
Italian soldiers will head to Naples to help clean a city that is again filled with garbage despite government efforts to ease the area’s recurring waste problem, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said Thursday, AFP reports.
“Given the heaps of garbage that have reformed, we have once again asked for the intervention of the military,” Berlusconi told journalists.
“From Monday, 170 of our men will be on the ground with 73 vehicles to allow Naples to again become a civilized city,” he added.
Trash troubles in Naples began 17 years ago and Berlusconi earned political points ahead of 2008 legislative elections for promising to finally fix the problem.
A crisis flared up again last November when area dumps were closed after fierce protests from local residents.
Some 3,500 tons of garbage litter the region, with 1,650 of those in the city centre, according to estimates published in April by the Italian media.
The crisis sparked protests in Naples on April 9 and the European Union has warned of heavy fines if the situation is not resolved.
The Italian government has approved plans to fast-track the construction of waste treatment centres and for purchasing incinerators.
On Thursday, Berlusconi blamed local authorities for the renewed infestation, complaining that “they have not even organized the tender for the two incinerators.”
The problem persists partly due to the lack of incinerators and local opposition to the expansion of open air dumping sites.
Experts say it will take at least three years to contruct the facilities required to manage the area’s abundance of garbage.