MARIO LAPORTA/AFP/Getty Images

Burnt uncollected rubbish in a street of Fuorigrotta, a district of Naples on May, 20, 2008. Tens of thousands of tons of waste have piled up since late last year as a 14-year problem over a lack of incinerators reaches a new peak. Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi held a cabinet meeting for the first time in Naples yesterday, calling the rubbish Italy's "gravest and most urgent" issue and vowing to resolve the crisis.