NAPLES, Italy, Nov. 30 (UPI) -- Nineteen of Italy's 20 regions have agreed to take 600 tons of trash from Naples daily to help ease the southern city's garbage crisis, officials said.
Urban Hygiene Councilor Paolo Giacomelli said the Liguria region's new high-tech trucks would replace a local firm and speed things up over the next three months, the ANSA news agency reported Tuesday.
"I expect very positive results from these latest-generation vehicles," Giacomelli said.
Giacomelli said there are approximately 2,400 tons of garbage in the city's streets, "but we're picking up 100-150 tons a day now and that figure is bound to rise."
Veneto is the only region not to help, but it is still dealing with massive flooding that occurred on Oct. 31, ANSA reported.
"I spoke with Premier (Silvio) Berlusconi over the phone and he was delighted with the positive outcome," Raffaele Fitto, the Regional Affairs Minister, said.
Berlusconi was criticized when a recent promise to clean up the garbage ran afoul. He has sent approximately 400 soldiers to towns near Naples which have also been affected and where most of the region's dumps are located, ANSA reported.
Berlusconi was acclaimed for solving a similar problem two years ago, but critics say his political credibility is more at stake with the current garbage crisis, ANSA reported.
