Seven million euros in administrative fines, 139 reports, over 300 vehicles seized and more than 50 people caught red-handed: this is the result of just six months of operations in the Land of Fires, a few months after the ruling of the European Court of Human Rights that has definitively turned the spotlight on the management of the environmental disaster in Campania. A strong and structured response, coordinated by the prefects of Naples and Caserta, which sees all the forces of the State in the field: police forces, army, local police, firefighters, ARPAC, ASL and labor inspectors.
The operations, intensified in recent weeks between Caserta and the Naples hinterland, have struck at the heart of illegal waste transportation and disposal chains, illegal workshops, unauthorized construction sites, and actual hidden landfills. Among the seizures, a completely non-compliant textile company and a 1000-square-meter private property transformed into an illegal storage facility for household appliances and hazardous waste stand out.
The new strategy, written down in black and white in the Interprovincial Committee for Public Order on June 18, focuses on a “muscular and intelligent” model, which combines repressive force with increasingly targeted and technological prevention action. With a new info-operational table and aerial missions by drones and military vehicles, the goal is to move away from the logic of patchy intervention to address the problem with a broad area vision, as also required by the ECHR.
Meanwhile, the training of operators, the enhancement of surveillance technologies and the use of funds allocated to Municipalities to strengthen controls continue. In recent days, the command of the “Strade Sicure” operation has seen the changeover between the 21st Engineer Regiment and the VIII Land Artillery Regiment “Pasubio” of Persano, with Colonel Elvidio Cedrola taking over from Colonel Romano Ventura, who deserves credit for having accompanied the first phases of the new operational course.
Chronicles of Campania
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The article is very interesting, but I wonder if the sanctions are enough to stop the problem. There are always new forms of illegality that arise. Let's hope that the police can do more to protect the environment.