Southern poor force nuclear dump u-turn

John Hooper in Rome
Friday November 28, 2003
The Guardian

Silvio Berlusconi's government was hounded into an embarrassing about-turn last night by some of Italy's poorest and least influential citizens.
Faced with protests in southern Italy, ministers withdrew a decree to dump the country's nuclear waste on the town of Scanzano Jonico in the region of Basilicata.

Last night's cabinet meeting was reportedly heated, with the environment minister, Altero Matteoli, under fire.

Mr Berlusconi was quoted as telling his ministers: "We've provoked a popular uprising."

By yesterday, the whole of Matera, the province in which Scanzano Jonico is located, was on strike.

Protesters blocked a main rail link and eight roads, including three motorways. The government had intended to store the waste in an underground vault.

It said a geological research showed Scanzano Jonico was the safest place in Italy.

But locals said the dump would contaminate their water supplies and risked destroying the area's fledgling tourist industry.

At the root of the anger was a perception that the country's waste was being unloaded in the south because its leaders did not dare find a site in the more prosperous and influential north.

Last night the cabinet approved a decree that ordered that a panel of scientists be set up to find another site within 18 months.

On hearing the news of the decision, hundreds of people rushed into the streets of Scanzano Jonico to celebrate.