A protocol of understanding on the Land of Fires toxic-waste fire area of Campania was signed in Caserta on Monday.
Premier Giuseppe Conte and Deputy Premier Luigi Di Maio addressed a press conference but the other deputy premier, Interior Minister Matteo Salvini, did not attend the conference because he had to get back to Rome for a dinner.
The government has framed a "plan of action against the fires in the land of Fires," Conte told the press conference.
This shows "the particular sensitivity and determination of the government to fight the phenomenon of illegal waste dumps and arson fires," he said.
Conte said "we have a very precise objective to safeguard the health of the people in the Land of Fires".
Di Maio told the press conference that "every day we will have to check that the sensitive sites are controlled, that there is progress in the plan of clearing the dumps. "We have chosen the most difficult road, not that of slogans.
He said the government would "control and close if needed illegal firms that have produced the fake waste that was burned or buried".
Salvini had proposed setting up waste incinerators across Campania, a proposal that was rejected by Di Maio.
The interior ministry said there was "no polemic" in Interior Minister Salvini not attending the press conference, saying he had to rush back for a dinner at the Viminale, the ministry's location in Rome.
The protocol was signed as a duel between Salvini and Di Maio over trash management in Campania continued.
The spat started last week when League party leader Salvini proposed the installment of new waste-incinerators across the region, an idea rejected by Labour and Industry Minister and 5-Star Movement (M5S) chief Di Maio.
Conte visited the Campania province of Caserta with seven ministers to pass the plan of action to combat the illegal burning of toxic waste, a big problem in the area, which has been called the 'land of fires'. "This is the first act of a relentless battle that we must win," said Di Maio, who described the incinerator proposal as old-fashioned.
"It's like a talking about telephone boxes that require tokens (for calls)," he added.
Furthermore, Minister for Southern Italy Barbara Lezzi, an M5S member, said Salvini's suggestion that Campania should follow the lead of the northern region of Lombardy on incinerators was off the mark.
Lezzi said Lombardy's 13 incinerators "are not a model". But Salvini stood by his position.
"Lombardy is not turning back," Salvini said.
"On the contrary, the aim is for other regions to move forward.
"I don't want a country that turns back".
Cone said before signing the protocol Monday that there are different views in government on how to solve Campania's waste crisis but the government contract is "the guide".
Conte said "there is no polemic, there are a few differing views but the government's political direction is clear and the contract is the guide".
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