Rome Is Facing a Serious Problem with its Waste - Risk of Diseases

Rome is once again facing a serious problem with its waste. Doctors warn that the situation is getting so bad that it threatens the public health, BTA reported.

Local and national media have put the issue on its front pages. On Thursday, Messaggero newspaper was headlined "Rome's Emergency Situation. Risk of Collapse Up to Ten Days."

The Italian capital suffers from a chronic shortage of waste treatment facilities, but on Monday the crisis exacerbated after massive resignations at the board of directors of the municipal AMA Purity Office.

"Piles of rubbish in every street, near schools, hospitals, public places... risk creating a health emergency," the Rome Association of Doctors said on Wednesday. "There's no time to waste," they added.

The Association of School Principals also came out with a statement that states that garbage is accumulating around school buildings throughout the city and the situation is "getting worse with each passing day".

"Within 15 days the city is going to have big problems," Ama's outgoing managing director Paolo Longoni said Wednesday.

Rome's chief physician Antonio Magi had issued a "hygiene alert" in July, telling AFP there was a risk of disease spreading through the faeces of insects and animals banqueting on rotting waste, The Local.it reported.

The directors urge the health authorities to check on each of the schools concerned and "ultimately request that they be closed" if things do not improve.

Rome is now sending its excess rubbish to waste treatment plants in the Lazio area and other parts of Italy, but this is an expensive and lasting solution to the problem, the agency notes.

In the last three years, the AMA leadership has changed six times. The last board of...