Until a few days ago, the 61 -year -old housewife, Antonita Makia, had little hope that Italian authorities would ever deal with the waste of the illegal waste that had long been to the north of his city and Naples for a long time. And the others suffered.
Her daughter was diagnosed with an unusual cancer in the area at the age of 5, where cancerous clinters are associated with pollution. But for years of march, sit -ins and comforting neighbors whose lives were reduced to the extraordinary deaths of their loved ones.
For example, he shook his head with a garbage hill – construction debris, sandy objects and plastic bags were filled with various refusal – its hometown of Esra piled up a dust street.
“We need less conversation, more action,” he said. “Have been talking for years.”
Recently, the European Court of Human Rights has been allowed to know that it feels the same. The court in the French city of Strasbourg found that Italian authorities have long been familiar with illegal dumping in the area, known as the “land of fire” due to permanent burning of poisonous trash.
But it says local and national officials have failed to work repeatedly. The court cited a 1997 report to Parliament stating that dumping has been underway since at least 1988.
The seven judges unanimously ruled that “progress was snowing,” saying that residents had been denied their “right to life”. It ordered the government to take immediate action and report within two years.
Residents and environmental workers said they hope the decision will eventually break non -practical logs to clear one of the poorest areas in Italy, where about 3 million people are scattered in 90 municipalities.
An ongoing study of Italy’s top Heath officials 2023 Report That is, the mortality rate for people in this part of the campaign is 9 % higher than the rest of the region. People were more likely to die of deadly tumor (10 % higher) or circulatory system diseases (7 % higher), and in some cases the figures were exactly: Women’s liver tumor examples were 31 % higher.
“We hope that all Italian politicians will have a shock to conscience,” said Enriotto Fontana, an environmental and legal status for Italy’s largest environmental group, said. “The hope is that this important decision will mobilize a real national unity with the national strategy that reacts to resolving the issue at all levels.”
The case includes complaints from several residents who want to know whether Italy has violated Article 2 of the Human Rights Convention, failing to clear this mess, the right of life, and whether it was Italian authorities. Also violated the right to information about people. Pollution in the area.
Another 4,700 citizens have filed complaints in Strasbourg regarding the same issues, and these cases may proceed when the Italy failed to develop a total strategy within the two -year deadline set by the court.
The Strasbourg case attracted the results of several parliamentary commissions, scientific studies, reports of environmental groups and experts, which shows that the area has been deliberately allowed to become a dumping ground.
Experts said manufacturers in Italy, and beyond, reduce secret deals with Camorra, as local mafia is known, losing illegal hazardous waste for a part of legal disposal costs To do
Camorra can ensure protection and silence by burying garbage in the backyard of his home.
“This is what is known as the sacrificial area, a weak, low -income, low educational community, who was already struggling,” said Marco Armmero, a political environmental expert.
He said in a telephone interview that in 2009, the inauguration of a firearms in Esira “increased the humiliation of already hurting the polluted community” and the management of toxic waste was not relieved. As a result, he added, “These communities are no longer confident in the institutions.”
He said that reconciliation can only be rebuilt by the court bid.
The European court gave Rome two years to draft a “comprehensive strategy” to resolve the situation, including the renovation of the areas where the poisonous garbage was buried and burned.
It calls for residents to set up “an independent monitoring mechanism and public information platform” for residents. The court found that “it was still impossible to realize that it was yet to be implicated,” and demanded better harmony among the institutions to deal with the issue.
“The overall situation is disturbing,” said Lorenzo Bahachi, a researcher at the National Research Council Institute of Clinical Physiology in Pisa. Despite the delay in decades, he said, the time was still essence.
“As we move, the as much as we go, if the pollution is not eliminated and the pressure on the area is not reduced, it will feel more negative effects,” he said.
Antonila Masia, a lawyer, who represented some of the complaint filed, said it was rare for the court to explain to Italy with his recommendations in such detail, which explained a two -year limit. Has been done
After that, the court said it would also focus on financial pay for the claimants. Ms Masia said, “But it was not about the money, but it was about the confirmation that there was a violation to bring about a change in the claim.
His colleague in Esra, Valentina Santonz, said Italy would have to prefer to find funds to meet the court’s recommendations, from eliminating the area to supervision so that new dumps could not be ready. As it is, garbage is set up in the entire area along the back roads.
He said, “You have to invest in a problem, you have to invest in it.”
The court was also clear that the local population should no longer be kept in the dark about what is happening in its area, better or worse.
“What has not been done and what to do should be transparency about what was not done,” said local environmentalist activist, Elsandero Kanivakolo.
He said that when the children of two heads or two tails or one -eyed sheep were born on the family farm, they raised awareness about pollution.
Health officials eventually ordered the entire flock to be kept down. Within a few weeks of his uncle, Vincezo, lung cancer, he died of metastasized.
Earlier this month, he was invited to a meeting in the province of Naples, inviting health officials, lawmakers, law enforcement and environmental workers to deal with the court’s decision. He said that providing concrete suggestions is very low.
“Here’s the talk, the thing, the thing. Oh, this area has already heard a lot of things.
Efforts to reach the regional authorities of the Campiania failed.
Mr. Kinivakulo, who is 36 years old, can leave his home area, but he has chosen to stay and fight. “Our roots are here,” he said. “Why should we abandon the land belonging to us? Those who have polluted it are the people who should go.
Other cannot wait for leave. 18 -year -old Maria de Les, all known as Mary, was only 5 years old when she was diagnosed with a kind of brain tumor that Affects about 650 children Every year in the European Union. “There were three issues in Esra, a city of 60,000,” said her mother.
Now, free of cancer, but still to deal with its treatment functions, Ms. Daevis is in her last year of high school and is expected to become a tattoo artist after graduating. Not in Acerra.
He said, “This is the place I had.
