May 21, 2008, 16:37 GMT
Naples, Italy - The Naples rubbish crisis, a new security package and economic reforms, dominated Wednesday proceedings as Italian Prime Minster Silvio Berlusconi and his cabinet convened for a meeting in the southern port city.
Berlusconi has made it his newly-elected government's priority to clear the streets of Naples and neighbouring areas, where rubbish has gone largely uncollected since December 2007 when local dump sites became full.
On Wednesday Berlusconi was keeping a promise, made in the aftermath of his April election triumph, to hold his cabinet's first 'operational' meeting in Naples.
Following four hours of talks with his ministers, Berlusconi announced the naming of Italy's top civil protection and rescue services official, Guido Bertolaso, as Undersecretary for the Refuse Emergency.
'We intend to deal with this as an emergency like an earthquake or the eruption of a volcano,' said Berlusconi, explaining that Bertolaso's powers would include overriding local authority decisions.
Berlusconi was speaking at a news conference in the Naples city centre where a speedily arranged removal operation, ensured that the surrounding streets showed no trace of the piles of trash common just a few days ago.
Critics called the exercise 'window-dressing' and challenged Berlusconi to show he is serious about tackling a problem which has been blamed on the mafia's infiltration of the lucrative waste removal business, as well as the ineptitude of local authorities.
With thousands of tons of refuse still amassed in much of the city and its hinterland, health officials have warned of the threat of disease and risks posed by the toxic fumes released by rubbish set on fire by exasperated residents.
But Berlusconi on Wednesday insisted that his government was presenting a 'a real solution which will solve the Naples problem once and for all'.
The premier said new dump sites would be identified and declared areas of 'national strategic interest' meaning they would be placed under military protection.
Attempts by organized crime gangs or others, to interfere with the process of refuse removal, would be punished with jail sentences of up to one year, Berlusconi said.
At Wednesday's cabinet meeting the centre-right government also approved a security package, including a bill to be voted in parliament 'by July' making illegal immigration a crime, said Interior Minister Roberto Maroni, speaking at the same Naples news conference.
The proposal has been slammed by the centre-left opposition and others on humanitarian grounds, with one critic, Patrizio Gonella of the prisoners' rights group, Antigone, warning that attempts to jail the country's estimated 500,000 illegal immigrants would lead to a 'population explosion' in Italy's prisons.
'Currently the prisons and illegal immigrant reception centres can hold a total of 46,000 people. To hold more than half a million in custody the government would have to use hostels, hospital wards, military barracks and hotels,' Gonella said.
The security package also specifies prison terms of up to three years for people who force children to beg - a measure seemingly aimed at the Roma ethnic community - and for landlords who let housing to illegal immigrants.
Maroni has also said he favours stepping up efforts to dismantle squatter camps housing Roma communities in many of Italy's major cities, a move which is likely to come under international scrutiny.
The European Parliament on Tuesday expressed concern over last week's incidents involving the torching of a Roma camp in Naples after a Roma teenage girl was arrested following an alleged baby- snatching episode.
On Wednesday, Berlusconi's cabinet is also approved tax cuts, a bastion of his election campaign, including eliminating the tax on a primary residence and on overtime work in the private sector.
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