Italy faces fines as litter row worsens

ITALY has failed to comply with a European court ruling on the chronic Naples rubbish crisis and could face fines if it does not solve the problem.

Thousands of tonnes of garbage still lie uncollected in the streets of Italy's third-largest city despite weeks of protests by local residents and repeated claims by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi to have fixed the problem.

European Environment Commissioner Janez Potocnik said he had received a statement from inspectors who visited Naples and the region of Campania last week which suggested the problem would take years to bring under control.

"The report confirms that the measures needed to execute the ruling issued by the European Court of Justice in March are not yet in place," he said, adding that the threat to health would continue without a proper waste management plan.

"This would oblige the Commission to eventually return to the court, with the likely outcome being the imposition of fines."

Berlusconi has dismissed accusations that he has mismanaged the crisis, laying the blame on local authorities and the centre-left mayor of Naples, but the issue has added to the problems facing his struggling government.

Berlusconi said he was confident that the streets of Naples would be cleared of rubbish "in less than two weeks". Asked about the risk of EU fines, he said his conservative government would "effectively oppose this eventuality and I hope we can nullify it".

The problem of poor waste management in Italy's most densely populated region has persisted for years, compounded by a mix of inefficiency and disputes between competing local authorities and made worse by the influence of organised crime.