Sustainable development blog : ecology and humanitarian aid

Translated by Marcella Oliviero from http://www.ecoo.it/articolo/emergenza-rifiuti-terzigno-in-rivolta-per-la-discarica/8031/

Image from: http://altocasertano.wordpress.com/2010/09/27/terzignona-rifiuti-sodano-...

The waste emergency is still being felt in the whole Campania (Italy), where the inefficiency of a landfill in the municipality of Terzigno (Naples) and the news regarding the opening of a new landfill have literally sparked a guerrilla war in which the main characters are locals people. The protest is so volatile that Army and Civil Protection forces went there. Television showed

every kind of images: rubbish in each corner of the street, burned flags, popular uprising, the placards? and screams of the poor mothers who only want clean and healthy conditions for their children. In the meantime, the Government (or rather, the Civil Protection forces) has promised 14 million euros for the Terzigno’s landfill clearance, still a bone of contention.  

Among the stench, garbage bags and placards?, last night (22 October 2010) there were  clashes between police and citizens, exchanges of Molotov cocktails, paper bombs, firecrackers, stones and glass bottles (thrown by citizens), batons and tear gas (used by law enforcement). The result: hundreds of citizens bruised (some seriously), 3 policemen injured, even a TV reporter was involved. It must be said in this case the Neapolitans may need to help the situation themselves .

Trusting in the Virgin,  certainly will not solve the waste problem plaguing their land. A popular saying is: "Heaven helps those that help themselves." In short, if we put it on the same level, why should the Holy One be willing to help a population unable to help themselves by reducing the garbage coming from their homes. The figures for Campania are shocking: only 25% of garbage is sorted (for recyclables), the remaining 75% ends up in landfills unsorted.