Garbage Crisis Leaves Naples' Streets a Putrid Mess

Becky Smith, Yahoo! Contributor Network
May 28, 2007 "Share your voice on Yahoo! websites. Start Here."

Naples stinks. Literally. This southern Italian city of one million people has become overrun with uncollected garbage, leaving the city a smelly mess and at risk of developing a serious health crisis, according to CNN.

Naples has no place to dump its garbage. City dumps are all full and while there are plans for new dumps to be built, work has not yet started because residents have protested, and politicians, both local and national, have overturned proposed sites, according to Guido Bertolaso, who was responsible for building the new sites. He resigned his position as "garbage czar" last week because of the fighting over how to handle what is only the latest in a spate of recent rubbish crises.

With no place to dump the trash, garbage collectors have not been making their rounds, and the streets of Naples have become piled with tons of rotting trash. CNN reports that some mounds of garbage have topped ten feet high. Sweltering temperatures have not helped the situation as the city is experiencing an early heat wave.

According to the Associated Press, frustrated residents have begun burning trash, but this is not a viable solution since there are serious concerns that the fires could result in toxic fumes being released into the air, possibly affecting the environment or even the human food chain. BBC News' Milan bureau reports that last Tuesday night there were 130 such fires.

Ironically, in 1973, Naples was the last major European city to have a cholera epidemic. The city could face another imminent health emergency if the rubbish crisis is not resolved quickly. Several schools have been forced to close because they have become infested with mice.

BBC News reports that Italian President Giorgio Napolitano, who is a Naples native, has sworn to help end the crisis.

Garbage a Burning Issue for Naples, CNN, http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/europe/05/21/naples.rubbish.ap/index.html
Italian City Faces Rubbish Crisis, BBC News, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6684635.stm
Naples' Garbage Crisis Worsens, Yahoo! News, http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/stinky_naples;_ylt=Ah1rXhf2tJbCUEWt6k2gPfSaK8MA

Published by Becky Smith

I served as the Senior Editor of a local parenting publication for 2 years and am now the Layout Editor for OKIE magazine, a local arts, news and entertainment publication.Writing was always my dream job. I... View profile

Garbage Crisis Leaves Naples' Streets a Putrid Mess

8 Comments

Yahoo! Voices

Also on Yahoo!

Yahoo! Contributor Network