Berlusconi vows to end the rubbish crisis

Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi yesterday pledged a swift end to the Naples garbage crisis as images in the media of piles of rubbish and angry protests put his struggling government under pressure.

At least 20 police officers were injured on Thursday and there was further violence overnight as the chronic problem of waste disposal in Italy's third largest city flared into violence for another night.

Hundreds of tonnes of garbage lies uncollected in the streets after a dispute erupted over a new dump near the town of Terzigno, near Naples, where the existing facility is full and where residents complain about the stench and toxic waste.

Berlusconi promised to spend €14 million to upgrade the dump at Terzigno and he said there was no threat to public health from the site which has been at the centre of the crisis.

"We expect that within ten days the situation in Terzigno can return to normal," he told a news conference in Rome after an emergency meeting with ministers, the regional governor and the head of the Civil Protection Agency.

The latest outbreak is an embarrassment for Berlusconi, who has often cited clearing Naples' streets shortly after he came to power in 2008 as one of his government's main achievements.

Organised crime interests have been deeply entwined with rubbish collection in Naples for many years.