Naples under a mountain of… disorganization
Posted on May 20, 2008
Filed Under Reportage, italia |
Neapolitans are dressed more smartly than usual these days. Though this might be merely an impression created by the contrast of their appearance with that of the town; not really in the best shape lately. It might be that because of the condition of the town, its inhabitants are more focused than usual on their aspect; Dressing is important in Italy anyway, and a clear indication of who you are in the South.
So shave, don a suit, and a tight white (long sleeved) shirt and don’t let anyone spot short (or even worse, white!) socks under your long trousers. Drink your caffè, eat your sfogliatella, focussing your senses on their scent and completely ignore the hills of garbage in various degrees of fermentation along via Roma, one of the most visited streets by tourists.
Because tourists –those barbarians– don’t ignore the foul smelling heaps, and instead of taking pictures of monuments, photograph the garbage. The month of May has been
celebrated as the month of the monuments in Naples, and posters have hung in airports to advertise this fact: Naples under a mountain of…. art.
Naples is indeed full of art. But at least for the last 30 years — as far back as my memory goes — it has been full of garbage too. The situation worsened after the earthquake in the 1980, when the government poured billions of today’s equivalent Euros in the region for the reconstruction.
Eventually after the killing of local administrators, judges, mayors, and reporters, the
Camorra (the local mafia) began to manage the reconstruction.
Politicians from the Christian Democracy were elected by the Camorra, which
still today decides who can and can’t be voted in. The politicians obtained power together with a seat in the Parliament – and the bosses received the money, and even more power.
But the Camorra, at the time, was well organised. It was officially called
Nuova Camorra Organizzata (NCO, New Organised Camorra), branded by Raffaele Cutolo. Cutolo (nicknamed the professor, il professore) organised the
Camorra as a modern efficient Mafia, taking as its consultants bosses from
Sicily and Puglie, where the Mafias are structured as criminal brotherhoods. He had good relations with politicians; was pitiless with his enemies; ferocious with the repentants and helpful towards the relatives of his imprisoned fellows. He created a pyramidal organisation from a plethora of small anarchical criminal groups.
But all good adventures must come to an end. And il professore, who was doing all that from inside of a prison, provoked the anger of the President of the Republic, Sandro Pertini, an old socialist and arguably the most beloved of all Italian politicians So il professore ended up in a little prison on a small island (a little like Napoleon did) and the NCO collapsed. The Camorra lost, if not its power, then most definitely its organizational structure.
Lack of organization: that is the only possible explanation for the situation of Naples today. Stupid, dishonest administrators? Yes. Garbage collection managed by the crime? Of course. But where is the problem? Is garbage collection for the 12 million people in Sao Paulo, Moscow or Cairo organised by a charity?
No, garbage is big business, and crime eventually becomes involved in it everywhere. It is dirty business after all! The problem is that Naples is so disorganised, that even crime is unable to collect the garbage, and dispose of it.
Nowadays, it is the only town with such a disorganised criminal presence…
So stop blaming the Camorra, and the governor of the Region Campania (Bassolino, currently on trial for the dirty business). And leave the Neapolitans, carefully dressed but oblivious to any rule, alone. The real villains are those reporters, investigators and judges who in the 1980s forced the best administrator Naples ever had, il professore, to resign and move onto the sunny little island.
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One Response to “Naples under a mountain of… disorganization”
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Please, I beg you, erase your post before the Joker reads it!
He promised to solve the garbage mess in Naples, you know, and you surely don’t want to give him strange ideas, is it?
It’s already likely enough he will come up with something similar himself. And I don’t think it will be difficult for him to find a good substitute for “il professore”, among his followers. Unless he wants to take care of the matter personally…