Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi urged all of Italy’s regions on Monday to help solve the garbage crisis in Naples, calling it a national emergency, but some northern regions remained reluctant to cooperate.

The government approved a decree last week to allow piles of rubbish that have built up in the streets of Italy’s third largest city to be disposed of in other regions.
 

But Berlusconi’s Northern League coalition allies, which regularly lambast corruption and disorganization in the poorer south, continue to oppose the plan.

“The current situation has become a real national emergency calling for collaboration and solidarity above the regional level to alleviate the suffering of Naples citizens,” Berlusconi said in a statement.

The crisis, which contributed to the downfall of Berlusconi’s centre-left predecessor, is the result of years of political failures, corruption and the influence of the local mafia which controls garbage-clearing rackets.

It has dragged on for years and mountains of stinking trash are again festering in the hot temperatures and waste dumps are overflowing.

Angry inhabitants have set fire to heaps of garbage and blocked roads with waste bags in recent weeks, and newly elected Naples mayor Luigi de Magistris has warned of imminent health risks from the burning rubbish.

Italy’s President Giorgio Napolitano has said he is alarmed by the crisis and has called for swift action.

A group of 14 Italian regions said in a statement on Monday they were ready to help but urged the government to speed up the opening of more waste disposal sites in the Naples area.

The governor of Piedmont, Northern League member Roberto Cota, said his region in northwest Italy was not prepared to cooperate.
Berlusconi, who often cites clearing the streets of Naples shortly after returning to power in 2008 as one of his biggest successes, blames local politicians for the problems, but many protesters see it as the government’s fault.