Naples collapses under heaps of rubbish

As the days crawl by, Neapolitans watch the rubbish pile up outside their doors. . Two thousand tonnes of refuse now fills the city’s streets. Firemen have been on high alert since New Year’s Day when residents started setting fire to the waste. Our Observers in the town describe the situation, and condemn the mafia’s role in the situation.

"It's because of the Mafia"

Avellino. Video posted 29 December 2007

Ciro Barbato reviews the role played by the mafia in the refuse ‘crisis’.

The situation is very bad now. There are loads of rubbish heaps in the streets. People are setting them on fire which creates clouds of carbon dioxide and toxic gases. It’s because of the illegal trafficking of the Mafia, the Camorra, who control waste management in the town, that this has happened. Italy should have built two incinerators and seven plants for the production of fuel derived from waste, but this was never done because Camorra has interests in public procurement and for controlling waste disposal. Disposing a tonne of waste in Italy costs 290 €, whereas in Germany it’s 215 €. Why do we spend more in Italy than in Germany? I think Camorra might be able to answer that question. »

"The situation got even worse"

Gianfranco Reppucci, who filmed this video on 1 January, described the situation in the streets.

The roads have been full of rubbish since the summer. Then the situation got even worse. Taking advantage of fireworks bought for New Year’s Eve, people started setting the rubbish piles on fire. The number of emergencies was enormous. About a hundred fires were started within 12 hours, and the firemen couldn’t cover them because of a lack of staff. They were working around the clock. On Wednesday morning, people blocked a railway station using the rubbish itself. They’ve also blocked several roads."

The mountains of rubbish in question

©Marco del Sorbo (published 27 December)

Waste disposal units engulfed in flames

Video posted 23 December 2007