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Italy Calls In Shrinks for Garbage Crisis

Berlusconi dispatches psychologists as part of promise to clean up mess

By Harry Kimball,  Newser Staff

Posted Jul 3, 2008 8:50 PM CDT
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(Newser) – Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has a “final solution" to Naples' trash problem—and it includes psychologists, Der Spiegel reports. Naples, whose overflowing landfills have led to intermittently trash-choked streets for years, will soon be invaded by an army of volunteers, including a group of psychologists trained in counseling disaster survivors. Berlusconi has also pledged to clean up the garbage.

The so-called "angels of garbage" hope to descend upon the city soon, “but you know how the concept of time in Italy has its own logic,” the group’s president said. Not only have Naples residents had to live with stinking piles of refuse for months, but protesters routinely clash with police trying to open new landfills nearby, which they oppose.

Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi.
Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi.   (AP Photo)
An unidentified youth, bleeding from the head, reacts during a protest in Chiaiano.
An unidentified youth, bleeding from the head, reacts during a protest in Chiaiano.   (AP Photo)
Italian Police officers in riot gear clash with protesters during a protest over a garbage dispute, in Chiaiano, near Naples.
Italian Police officers in riot gear clash with protesters during a protest over a garbage dispute, in Chiaiano, near Naples.   (AP Photo)
An employee works inside the Caivano dump, near Naples.
An employee works inside the Caivano dump, near Naples.   (AP Photo/Salvatore Laporta)
Citizens of Pianura, on the outskirts of Naples, dump garbage bags in the middle of the street in a bid to block the traffic to protest against the lack of rubbish collection.
Citizens of Pianura, on the outskirts of Naples, dump garbage bags in the middle of the street in a bid to block the traffic to protest against the lack of rubbish collection.   (AP Photo)
A woman pushes her stroller past a heap of garbage in Naples.
A woman pushes her stroller past a heap of garbage in Naples.   (AP Photo)
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Why is this happening?
CNN

The garbage wars, in pictures
Time

On Berlusconi's initiative
Associated Press

 
Italy • landfill • garbage • Naples • Silvio Berlusconi • psychologist

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