Rome thought it could clean up its politics by ousting the mob. Now it can’t clean its streets.”>
ROME There are few things worse than the fetid stench of an overflowing garbage dumpster on a sweltering, breezeless summer day. But the persistent odor of rotting cheese from pizza boxes, soiled diapers, and other non-recyclables literally baking under the hot summer sun has become so common in Rome that most residents, and an increasing number of tourists, have learned to just cover their noses and walk on by, careful not to crunch the swarms of cockroaches or startle any of the rats that feed on the squalor.
Cleaning up the citys catastrophic garbage crisis was supposed to be the priority for Romes new mayor, Virginia Raggi, when she was elected in June. But already, more than a month into her mandate, the neo-mayor is struggling against a wall of corruption that is as high as the piled-up trash. And what could make matters worse is growing concern that Paola Muraro, the woman Raggi just tapped as the garbage czar to manage the crisis, has been embroiled in the criminal scandal that caused the problem in the first place.
A few weeks ago, after a video went viral of children in one of the citys leafy suburbs counting the rats scurrying from a dumpster (25 in five minutes), Raggi promised she would have the mess cleaned up by Aug. 20. But it will be nothing short of a miracle if she even comes close to reaching that goal.
At issue is the simple fact that organized crime syndicates have run the Italian capitals waste management system AMA for so long it is apparently impossible to keep the city clean without them.
Its a crazy system; Im speechless, Raggi said when she started to unravel the layers of corruption.
Addressing city hall on Monday, she explained that AMA has a debt of around 600 million, including owing 200 million to suppliers and 35 million to banks that have carried loans. The company also has around 7,500 employees who arent all trained sanitation workers, meaning they are not equipped to handle the type of garbage they must collect, which includes medical waste and other toxic waste products.