ROME – Deputy Prime Ministers Matteo Salvini and Luigi di Maio continued their spat over waste disposal in the Campania region on Monday, government sources report.

 Di Maio has described Interior Minister Salvini’s proposal to install new waste-disposal incinerators as extremely old-fashioned, likening it to “telephone boxes that required tokens.” He also maintained that the toxic waste crisis in the area was linked to industrial refuse, rather than domestic waste, so “incinerators don’t come into it one blooming bit.”

 In opposition to his M5S counterpart, the League leader has cited the use of 13 such disposal systems in Lombardy as proof of the effectiveness of the system. “Lombardy is not going backwards,” Salvini said. “On the contrary, the aim is for other regions to move forward.”

 Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte has reportedly visited the Campanian province Caserta alongside seven ministers on Monday, aiming to pass legislation setting out plans to combat the illegal burning of toxic waste in the region, which has been rife for some time.

 Despite his enthusiasm for the incinerator project, Salvini will have to go some way to convince both Di Maio and Conte of his proposal, given that the idea was not included in the government contract drawn up between M5S and the League upon taking office earlier in the year. Conte, though wishing to appear neutral in the clash between his two deputies, also reportedly suggested that he would side with Di Maio, simply stating that, as Prime Minister, he is the guarantor of this contract.  

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