According to the Guardian Unlimited, a British newspaper, the Italian army was called in to start cleaning growing piles of garbage from the streets of Naples. The Prime Minister, Romano Prodi, vowed to solve the problem "once and for all". The troops were concentrating on bulldozing garbage from outside schools that were supposed to reopen today, after Christmas, amid rising health fears. Most residents have resorted to burning the trash mounds, creating a scare with the toxic fumes. Fire fighters have been fighting blazes around the clock as residents have tried to dispose of the estimated 100,000 tons of waste that has accumulated on the streets.
The garbage collection has come to a stop because all the dumps in the Naples area are full and a new incinerator that was supposed to be ready at the end of 2007 is still not complete. The problem has been compounded by the city's mafia, the Camorra, which is said to make millions of euros from the transport and illegal dumping of waste. It is accused of sabotaging plans for new incinerators. Prime Minister Prodi is to hold talks with the environment, interior and defense ministers to devise a long-term strategy to solve the problem.
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