Naples mayors reject dump offer

Violent protests have forced the Italian government to delay opening a new rubbish dump near Naples.

Six policemen were reportedly injured as hundreds of demonstrators clashed with police overnight in the southern town of Terzigno, near the proposed new dump at the foot of Mount Vesuvius.

More than 2,000 tonnes of rubbish lies uncollected on Naples’ streets.

PM Silvio Berlusconi has sent the head of the civil protection authority to Naples to deal with the issue.

The official, Guido Bertolaso, said nothing could be agreed until more than week of protests were brought to an end.

“These protests are partly fed by external factors, because there clearly are citizens in these municipalities who are worried and have expressed in a totally civilised, democratic and correct way their dissent and their concern,” he said.

“It is clear to me that exterior forces have got in to use that dissent for their own interests.”

Naples has suffered years of waste mismanagement, with corruption and organised crime leading to streets filled with rubbish.

The clashes come amid an intensifying rubbish crisis in the region, where residents fear contamination by unregulated and toxic waste disposal.

Earlier in the week, police charged at protesters outside an existing dump in Terzigno after officers were injured as protesters set rubbish trucks alight and threw fireworks.

After an emergency meeting about the crisis on Friday, Mr Berlusconi promised on Friday to spend 14m euros (£12.5m) to upgrade the current Terzigno dump, saying the site did not pose a health risk.

Pope Benedict XVI offered his support to residents on Saturday, calling for a “fair and mutually-agreed upon solution to the problem”.

The European environment commissioner has warned Italy faces legal action and heavy fines if it does not improve waste management in Naples.

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