Army to help clear trash

The defense ministry has welcomed a request by the interior ministry to help clear uncollected rubbish from the streets of the capital.

Some 170 army trucks and drivers are to be mobilized for that reason, but no soldiers are to participate in the campaign, reports said Monday.

The decision came hours after Athens mayor Giorgos Kaminis described the army as ?the only solution left? to the burgeoning waste problem.

Speaking to Skai television earlier Monday, Kaminis urged striking garbage collectors to clear accumulated rubbish from the capital’s sensitive areas, such as schools and hospitals, as they represent a public health hazard.

?Employees are not even collecting hospital waste,? Kaminis said, adding that the inaction poses a huge health risk and it defies common sense.

?[Calling in the army] is the only solution left,? the mayor warned.

The army has in the past been mobilized to collect trash in Greece — Thessaloniki Mayor Yannis Boutaris made a similar decision earlier this year.

More than 6,000 tons of garbage has piled up on the streets, prompting experts to warn of a public health risk.

Police earlier said a private truck, commissioned by the government to replace striking garbage collectors, was attacked Monday by dozens of unidentified men in Nea Ionia. The driver escaped unharmed.

Municipal refuse collectors, who are protesting fresh wage cuts and impending layoffs, have opposed socialist government plans to bring in private workers to clear tons of accumulated rubbish by threatening that ?blood will flow in the streets.?