Italy's 'Land of Fires': A Unified Effort Against Environmental Crime

"We are here to talk about one of the many 'lands of fires' in Italy. There has been an interaction with all the parties involved for the prevention and suppression of this deplorable phenomenon that threatens the health of citizens and, above all, we have talked about the prospects of joint actions to be implemented shortly," said the Prefect of Naples, Michele di Bari, at the end of the meeting held at the Episcopal see of Acerra, which was also attended by the Prefect of Caserta, Giuseppe Castaldo, the president of the Campania Episcopal Conference, Antonio Di Donna, the honorable Carmela Auriemma, and several bishops from the provinces of Naples and Caserta. "At this table," the Prefect added, "there will be others following" specific on the individual matters that pertain especially to prevention and repression for health protection, hence analysis of water and air." Furthermore, the prefect emphasized that municipalities will have the opportunity to allocate local police officers to counteract toxic fires and illegal waste dumping, with additional overtime hours. "There is also the need to establish certain priority objectives," di Bari added, "all of this today was done in a single action, and together we will move forward because this activity can be increasingly effective and aimed at solving the problem." The issue of clean-ups is very harsh, I don't know what will be done, but I believe it will be difficult here," said the president of the Campania Episcopal Conference, and bishop of Acerra, monsignor Antonio Di Donna, on the sidelines of the meeting to discuss new initiatives to be undertaken in the Land of Fires. "I would like to be more optimistic about the clean-ups," he added, "but at least from this meeting, the clear will, expressed by the Prefect of Naples, to make the institutions dialogue with each other emerged because there is not always a dialogue especially on the theme of combating the lands of fires."