NAPLES, Italy (AFP) — Italian police clashed Friday with demonstrators opposed to the opening of a new rubbish dump proposed by the government to ease the Naples garbage crisis.
Demonstrators tried to set fire to a bus and hurled rocks at police who staged a baton charge and fired tear gas in a bid to end the protests.
Police said five demonstrators were arrested and an AFP photographer said some demonstrators suffered minor injuries.
About 1,000 demonstrators tried to block a road leading to the site of the proposed new dump at Chiaiano on the northwestern fringe of Naples, where Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi held a special cabinet meeting on Wednesday and ordered measures to counter the crisis over thousands of tonnes of waste left on city streets.
The tensions eased just before midnight, according to police. But a correspondent for Rai public television, Romolo Sticchi, said he was hit by a police officer who took his camera, ANSA news agency reported.
"A reaction of this type was predictable, I understand it, but it is in the interests of everyone to end this national tragedy," Interior Minister Roberto Maroni was quoted as saying by ANSA.
The Berlusconi government ordered the opening of about 10 new dumps as part of a new drive to clear the garbage.
Chiaiano was one of the designated sites, though the official list is only to be released Saturday, ANSA said. The suburban town had already been chosen by the last government to host a waste dump and this also caused demonstrations by opponents.
Berlusconi has said the new dumps will be protected by the military.
He has warned of jail terms for people who violently demonstrate against new dumps in their towns.
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