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.
 

13:16 • 21/05

Prosperous Armenia negotiates coalition, Hmayak Hovhannisyan says

13:12 • 21/05

IAEA chief to press for nuclear cooperation in Iran

13:03 • 21/05

Eurasia University rector says education reforms not essential

12:44 • 21/05

Turkish opposition figure blames Armenians for fail

12:28 • 21/05

Two scientists' create sleep mask that lets people control their dreams

12:21 • 21/05

Nato grants Turkey 10 general stars

12:18 • 21/05

Suicide attack against Yemen army in Sanaa kills 50

12:13 • 21/05

Homeland and Honor party to remain in ANC opposition bloc

11:51 • 21/05

International Arts Education Week to be held in Armenia

11:51 • 21/05

UNESCO to celebrate Anania Shirakatsi’s birth anniversary

11:23 • 21/05

World Health Organisation to declare global polio emergency

11:11 • 21/05

Event dedicated to First Republic of Armenia to be held in Moscow

10:59 • 21/05

Canadian, German die on Everest, three reported missing

10:52 • 21/05

Two earthquakes hit Armenia’s Ashotsk village

10:51 • 21/05

Georgia, Azerbaijan agree over David Gareja monastery issue

10:07 • 21/05

Beirut gunbattles leave 2 dead, Syria spillover feared

10:04 • 21/05

Russia world hockey champion after beating Slovakia (video)

09:47 • 21/05

More than $2.2 million raised at ANCA telethon

09:37 • 21/05

Mexico arrests 'cartel leader' behind Monterrey deaths

09:36 • 21/05

Annular solar eclipse goes global

09:18 • 21/05

Italy quake damages historic buildings

09:17 • 21/05

Alibaba to buy back shares from Yahoo! for $7.1 bln

09:04 • 21/05

Peace activists march through Chicago to Nato summit

08:49 • 21/05

Bee Gees' singer Robin Gibb dies after cancer battle

08:39 • 21/05

Pakistan restores Twitter after block

08:31 • 21/05

Earthquake registered in Armenia

08:19 • 21/05

Tomislav Nikolic beats Boris Tadic in Serbia run-off

20:47 • 20/05

Five boat people dead, 15 missing in wreck off Mayotte

20:30 • 20/05

Princess Michael's Russian playboy friend shot and killed near Moscow in brutal 'contract murder'

20:13 • 20/05

Police beat corralled protesters at State and Washington

20:02 • 20/05

Lebanese soldiers shot dead a Sunni cleric and a second member of a Lebanese political alliance against Syrian President Bashar

19:50 • 20/05

Azerbaijani police break up peaceful opposition rallies, ignores anti-Iranians (video)

19:13 • 20/05

Single suspect blamed for Brindisi bomb

18:49 • 20/05

Girl, 4, calls 911 to save brother's life after choking fit

18:26 • 20/05

Protest rally on preservation of David Gareja monastery complex held in Tbilisi

18:06 • 20/05

51 injured after 6 buses crash on Georgia interstate

18:04 • 20/05

19-year-old serviceman dies in Hadrout, Defense Ministry keeps silent

17:18 • 20/05

Lockerbie bomber Megrahi is dead

17:14 • 20/05

Syria bomb blast near UN convoy

16:53 • 20/05

Sudan releases four foreigner seized in disputed area

16:17 • 20/05

Pakistan blocks Twitter over contentious material

15:58 • 20/05

11-year-old boy drowns in Armenia

15:51 • 20/05

Yerevan celebrates Vardaton, holiday dedicated to Sayat-Nova

15:20 • 20/05

Why women's workplace jokes flop as men are better at 'witty banter'

15:16 • 20/05

Armenian Genocide book issued in Turkey

14:50 • 20/05

74-year-old grandma accused of shooting 17-year-old grandson to death

14:31 • 20/05

Flash flood kills 19 in Afghanistan; many missing

14:23 • 20/05

U.S. tells G8 Syria's Assad must go, cites Yemen as model

14:13 • 20/05

Doctors accidentally tear baby's head off as mother struggles to give birth in Brazilian hospital

14:07 • 20/05

Serbian voters go to polls to new elect president

14:05 • 20/05

Father of 30 kids by 11 women can't pay child support

14:02 • 20/05

Disabled war veteran to apply to President Serzh Sargsyan