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Naples Mayor Urges Calm In Trash Pileup

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The Associated Press

Published: January 6, 2008

NAPLES, Italy - The mayor of Naples appealed to angry residents Saturday to stay calm in the city's 2-week-old garbage crisis, and the prime minister called it an emergency that must be tackled quickly.

Scattered clashes between youths and police continued, news reports said, as garbage accumulated in stinking mountains in the city. Collectors stopped picking up trash Dec. 21 because there is no more room for it at dumps.

Premier Romano Prodi told journalists in his hometown of Bologna that Naples' garbage problems had to be solved "once and for all," and that government ministers would meet Monday to come up with a strategy.

"Everybody's watching us, and I don't want Italy to give off this negative image," Prodi said. "It's an emergency we must tackle rapidly."

Garbage pileups because of a shortage of space in dumps have plagued the port city sporadically for several years. Although citizens are angered by the uncollected trash, they also have blocked plans to open new dumps in the Naples area.

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