Garbage collection resumed in Naples Thursday after a weeks-long waste disposal crisis, but the southern Italian city remained choked with 1,700 tonnes of smelly refuse as protests continued.
Garbage collectors scooped up 1,600 tonnes of waste in the morning, leaving just over half still rotting on city streets but nonetheless improving "the situation by 300 tonnes," compared with Wednesday, said Naples municipality hygiene chief Paolo Giacomelli.
Rome has also sent trucks and drivers to help with the garbage collection.
"I hope that the protests won't again degenerate and affect those who work assiduously and sacrifice for the city's well being," Giacomelli said.
Standoffs in several small towns where residents oppose the existence and expansion of open-air garbage dumps have led to trash piling up in the streets of the Naples.
The long-running waste issue has been blamed on a lack of local incinerators, and landfill sites controlled by the local mafia, the Camorra, some of which were used for the illegal dumping of toxic waste.
The European Union has sharply criticised the Campania region where Naples is located for failing to resolve waste disposal issues.
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