Fears were mounting on Monday over the prospects for the tourist trade in the Naples area where a trash crisis has caused mountains of rubbish to pile up in front of hotels and restaurants.
As well as in Naples itself, where 2,750 tonnes of waste littered the streets on Monday, problems were reported south of the city on the upmarket Sorrento coast and near Herculaneum, site of important archeological remains.
In at least one town near Sorrento overflowing refuse bins were set on fire on Monday as local people voiced frustration at the inability of authorities to solve a long-running problem.
"No one has collected rubbish since Saturday. Bins are overflowing, doing serious damage to our town's image," said Lello Staiano, councillor in charge of tourism in Massa Lubrense.
"We have 112 km of country walks, a marine park and award-winning restaurants. Why do we have to transmit this filthy image to the media?"
But the possible threat to the tourist business, just as the season begins, is only part of the crisis facing the Campania region, where the only landfill still accepting rubbish will be full to capacity by the end of the week.
The city of Naples faces a growing health risk as rubbish remains piled up in the sun, creating colonies of bacteria that could cause infectious diseases, experts say.
Anger over the situation is rising. There were protests in Naples over the weekend and many mayors from badly hit towns in the region said they intended to resign.
Naples firefighters were called out 150 times over 24 hours at the weekend to put out blazing piles of rubbish set on fire by local people. Authorities warned that this growing trend only worsens health problems by releasing dioxins into the air.
"This is a tragic situation," said Naples Mayor Rosa Iervolino. "People don't understand that if they burn rubbish they force us to leave it there for four more days to avoid other types of pollution".
EMERGENCY DECREE.
The government recently approved an emergency decree to create four additional landfills in the region around Naples but progress has been blocked by protests from people living near the proposed sites.
Civil Protection chief Guido Bertolaso, who last year was put in charge of the Naples trash crisis, quit last Thursday after the government backed down on one of the sites and agreed to move it elsewhere.
Premier Romano Prodi met Bertolaso in Rome on Monday and persuaded him to stay on, drawing expressions of relief from the mayor of Naples and the head of the Campania regional government.
Sources said Bertolaso changed his mind after Prodi promised that his government would remain firm and united on implementing the plan to create more rubbish collection sites.
The Civil Protection chief is already at work to apply the decree, the sources said.
