Word: trashings
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...Berlusconi on Wednesday made good on an unusual campaign promise by holding his new government's first cabinet meeting in the heart of this troubled city of one million. The center-right leader's appearance is a nod to the entrenched social ills that afflict Naples - most notably a trash-collection emergency that has left rubbish heaps piling up on sidewalks. Naples' litany of urban blights have made life increasingly unpleasant for locals, and tarnished the international image of both the city and the entire nation...
...support to deep cynicism. Near the Prefect headquarters in central Naples, where the four-hour afternoon meeting was held, was a giant banner saying Berlusconi was worthy of sainthood. But there were also organized protests of at least 10 different groups, including one citizen association that carried bags of trash with Berlusconi's picture plastered...
...much confidence left in the political system in general," said a 37-year-old building contractor. "But I hope this time, they really try to do something. For every step forward we make, the north of Italy takes 10. We're always 30 years behind." Local merchants said trash that had piled up for days was cleared overnight before the arrival of the meticulous Berlusconi, who once ordered Genoa residents to take down their clotheslines before a G8 summit...
Arpenti said center-left local leaders share much of the blame in not tackling the problems of trash, unemployment and poor public services. Meanwhile, the mob syndicate in and around Naples, known as the Camorra, has long infiltrated the trash-collection business, turning big profits and creating environmental hazards. For more than a decade, a mix of criminal influence, government inaction and not-in-my-backyard opposition to expansions of landfills have caused on-again, off-again scenes of huge piles of trash in city streets. Estimates are that some 3,500 tons are currently waiting to be cleaned...
...story building in the village of Juyuan, neighbors and parents still gather here to try to comprehend why the children who went off to class Monday disappeared under tons of broken concrete. Some scramble over the debris, searching for any reminders of the dead. Others stand in the muddy, trash-filled lot and discuss the tragedy with a tone that drifts between sadness and rage...