Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is holding his first cabinet meeting in the southern city of Naples, mired in a rubbish crisis.
The Naples rubbish crisis will be treated as a natural disaster, Italy's prime minister has said, unveiling a series of emergency measures.
Angry residents have taken to burning the piles of rotting waste, which have littered the streets for months.
Silvio Berlusconi said polluted areas will be classified as of strategic national interest, guarded by soldiers. Angry residents have taken to burning the piles of rotting waste, which have littered the streets for months.
Mr Berlusconi, 71, is expected to unveil a series of measures, including controversial new rubbish dump sites.
Chronic mismanagement by city officials and the involvement of the Naples mafia, the Camorra, has been blamed.
But, despite high security in the city, he and his colleagues are likely to be confronted by protesters.
"[The sites] will become virtually military zones and will be guarded by soldiers to ensure that they can be cleared," Mr Berlusconi told a press conference in the southern city, where he held the first full meeting of his new cabinet.
No fewer than seven separate marches are due to converge in the city's main square, near where the cabinet will be meeting at the main police headquarters, according to Italy's La Repubblica newspaper.
"They will become areas of strategic national interest. Whoever tries to stop the management and disposal of the waste will face a prison sentence."
A total of 1,000 police officers are also on patrol around the city.
Mafia link
Mafia link
Locals blame chronic mismanagement by the city authorities and the involvement of the Naples mafia, the Camorra, for the rubbish crisis.
Mr Berlusconi also announced that the head of the country's civil protection force - which intervenes during natural disasters like earthquakes - would be charged with co-ordinating the rubbish clearance.
Firefighters have been extinguishing piles of burning rubbish each night
Hundreds of people took part in demonstrations in central Naples
"We didn't need a cabinet meeting to underline the fact that [the rubbish issue] is an absolute priority for us," said Minister for Implementation Gianfranco Rotondi, according to La Repubblica.
"We are handing over the emergency to the civil protection force - just as though we had a natural disaster," Mr Berlusconi said.
"We are here to say that the Berlusconi government is beginning from the South of the country and aims to get Italy moving again, starting right here in Naples," he added.
He said new rubbish dump sites would be named across the Campania region, which is blighted by some 45,000 tonnes of uncollected and dumped waste.
Several rubbish incinerators - which have been opposed by local residents - would be commissioned to deal with the waste, Mr Berlusconi added.
He said he would regularly return to Naples to monitor the crisis.
"The state is present in Naples," he said. "It will act - not tomorrow - but straight away."
There was high security in Naples for the cabinet meeting, with some 1,000 police officers patrolling the streets.
Protesters waving banners and chanting slogans clogged up the city's historic centre.
Municipal rubbish collections were stopped in Naples in December and the city's landfill sites are overflowing.
Municipal rubbish collections were stopped in Naples in December and the city's landfill sites are overflowing.
There are an estimated 45,000 tonnes of rubbish in the wider Campania region, and 3,500 tonnes in Naples alone.
The region came top of a list of southern Italian provinces blighted by organised crime, according to a study released by the Eurispes research institute on Wednesday.
Violent crime
But some locals were sceptical about the media magnate's decision to hold his first full cabinet meeting in Naples.
A Roma camp on the city outskirts was set alight last week
"Our problems can't be fixed from one day to the next. We've been dealing with this rubbish for the last 15 years and I don't expect anything to change in any real way soon," architect Raffaele Rusciani told Reuters.
In early May, the European Union announced it was taking the Italian government to court over its mishandling of the region's waste management.
In early May, the European Union announced it was taking the Italian government to court over its mishandling of the region's waste management.
Mr Berlusconi is also expected to announce tough new measures to deal with crimes committed by illegal immigrants.
Mr Berlusconi is also expected to announce tough new measures to deal with crimes committed by illegal immigrants.
He will announce a new draft law which makes it a crime punishable by up to four years' imprisonment to enter the country illegally.
He will announce a new draft law which makes it a crime punishable by up to four years' imprisonment to enter the country illegally.
He will also announce measures to deal with an influx of Roma, or Gypsy, people.
He will also announce measures to deal with an influx of Roma, or Gypsy, people.
The BBC's David Willey, in Rome, says they are often perceived - rightly or wrongly - by the Italian public as responsible for an increase in violent crime.
The BBC's David Willey, in Rome, says they are often perceived - rightly or wrongly - by the Italian public as responsible for an increase in violent crime.
Have you been affected by the issues in this story? Do you believe Mr Berlusconi's visit will make a difference? Send us your comments using the form below. Text them to +44 7725 100 100.
/>Have you been affected by the issues in this story? Do you believe Mr Berlusconi's visit will make a difference? Send us your comments using the form below. Text them to +44 7725 100 100.
