Italian newspapers see Rome garbage collectors recover after ‘supernatural visits to the doctor’

Litter scattered is one of the greatest epidemics in Rome. As the sun warms the city day in and day out in the summer to well over 30 degrees, the overflowing trash cans and careless trash that are dumped next to them start to smell really bad. Parallel to the rising temperatures, annual voices of lament mount for the capital’s residents, who have mostly resigned themselves to their fate the rest of the time.

Add to that a number of mysterious garbage fires, possibly ignited by organized crime, this year, sending thick clouds of black smoke over the city. Now fate wants it too Italy is going through a government crisisalways a complex political competition, but this time the direct reason is the construction of a new power plant from waste near the capital.

In short, Romanian tragicomedys don’t have a shortage of drama this year either. Enough reason for the press to target the municipal waste company Ama again, known for corruption and mafia infiltration. The high absenteeism among the staff is one of the reasons why the eternal problem cannot be kept away from the Eternal City.

La Republica He browses through old medical data that ended up in the press after more rigorous checks by the new administration. “One of the garbage collectors presented a medical certificate stating that they should not be exposed to the waste,” the newspaper wrote. According to the newspaper, other employees were also able to obtain “tamper limit” medical certificates, in order to escape their heavy duty primary.

The Corriere della Sera In the meantime, he speaks with frank irony of the “supernatural visits to the doctor” made by the new administration in May and June. The result was already amazing: within two months, a total of 335 garbage collectors were able to return to work.

This means that more than 1,200 employees out of 7,100 are still partially ill, because before the new tests there were more than 1,600 employees. In addition, 332 completely sick people were reported. They are also unable to perform office tasks – much more desirable. And yes, there was also a portion of the garbage collectors who simply didn’t show up for the new checks.

heavy artillery

Meanwhile, Mayor Roberto Gualtieri has picked some of the rougher shotguns: He announced that he wanted to hire 655 new garbage collectors, 155 of which were added in June. So in recent months hundreds of garbage collectors have been added overnight, but the people of Rome see and smell every day that this is not enough.

It is therefore highly doubtful whether Gualtieri would rule the problem, unlike his predecessor Virginia Raggi (who was also hated by many Romans for the rubbish littered around her). One thing is for sure: Roman garbage collectors are having a hard time.

This is undoubtedly not entirely unjustified, but the newspapers are silent on one fact. The other 75 percent of the garbage collectors who reported sick, showed up for inspection, but appeared to be already sick, or at least temporarily unfit for hard work. This might make you wonder about the working conditions of the Romanian garbage trucks, but as long as the capital stinks, the Italian media will keep this discussion for another time.