Thousands of tonnes of garbage still choked the streets of Naples Sunday, despite Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's assurances that the crisis had been resolved, ANSA reported.
Firefighters were called out 25 times overnight Saturday to douse dustbin fires, the news agency reported.
Overloaded garbage lorries were unable to reach one of the southern Italian city's two landfill sites, while local residents prevented the lorries from unloading at the other.
Berlusconi promised on Thursday that the 1,700-odd tonnes of stinking waste — much of it in the ancient city centre — would be removed within three days.
On Friday he said he had reached agreement with mayors in the region to settle the crisis, which has led to angry protests between residents and police.
The long-running waste issue has been blamed on a lack of local incinerators and landfill sites controlled by the local mafia, the Camorra, some of which were used for the illegal dumping of toxic waste.
The flashpoint issue helped Berlusconi to his election victory in 2008 after he promised to stamp out the waste disposal problem in the area.
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