Then the local administrations need to employ more people in the industry Yesterday I was at a birthday party. If you only know how many ribbons, wrappers and sheets of paper were left lying around after all the presents were unwrapped."Mr de Crescenzio says a more ecologically-friendly lifestyle is required, rather than the establishment of new rubbish dumps. "If there is a waste emergency it is because we produce too much of everything," he said. "I remember that 50 years ago each household produced a really tiny packet of rubbish that was left outside."Above all one needs to try to produce less trash. This is a part of the world where change is measured in centuries. These problems with luck will be considered in the next century."In Naples, where the Capri lifestyle is both envied and disparaged, a different tale is being told. The philosopher and pundit Luciano De Crescenzio shows typical intolerance of what he sees as capricious complaints from a spoilt and overly-indulged population.
"But in Campania the regional government has a serious responsibility for preparing a waste disposal plan, with incinerators, stocking centres and whatever else is needed."Hinting at the Camorra kingpins' well-known and longstanding interests in the waste sector, he said: "There seems to be a sort of taboo about dealing with the trash. An escalating battle for lucrative cocaine smuggling and extortion rackets has dominated the headlines in Naples for months."The deafness of this ruling class on the rubbish question as on that of the crime problem causes a lot of public controversy," Mr Ciuni said. Unlike his neighbours, he believes there are deep and troubling dimensions to the piles of refuse, drawing a parallel between the crisis and the organised crime gangs that authorities have failed to curb in and around Naples. "Capri is beautiful even in an emergency situation," said Peppino Di Capri, a popular singer whose dozens of songs about the island such as "Capri Moon," and "Champagne" have become nationwide chartbusters."These problems haven't stopped me inviting friends to my house this summer to pass the evenings singing together," he said. The singer, however, praised the mayors for raising the alarm by threatening to stop tourists landing." But I am still asking myself what will happen at the ancient Roman summer festival of Ferragosto, when there are usually many more tourists Of course Bassolino cannot just wave a magic wand I hope we find a definitive solution in a hurry. I have travelled a lot and I've never seen so much trash anywhere."Roberto Ciuni, a popular Italian writer who lives on the island for five to six months each year, also was unruffled by the crisis.
"In the end some 'saint' will open another waste dump, another 'saint' still will authorise the lorries to dump in other cities and in this way Signor Bassolino will be happy to say the problem is resolved," he said, shrugging.Mr Ciuni is one of the most outspoken island critics of the centre-left regional administration run by Mr Bassolino, whom the writer regularly lambasts in a column he writes for the Naples daily Il Mattino. The motive, they claimed, was to ensure that expensive water tanker services linked to the mob would remain essential for the island's survival.In an attempt to help mediate the latest row, the president of the regional government of Campania, Antonio Bassolino, appointed a special commissioner for rubbish collection for the region, Corrado Catenacci, to deal with the processing crisis, which has also hit other parts of Campania. Critics say, however, that Mr Bassolino's "trouble-shooting" has so far had little impact on the burgeoning fiasco.As the refuse turns pungent in the summer heat, some of Capri's best-known residents and native sons have tried to defend its reputation. Each year a war of words seems to break out between authorities in Capri, a prestigious resort since the days of the emperor Tiberius, their allies in Anacapri, the second-largest village, and the nominal masters on the mainland.