Naples, Italy  - The Naples rubbish crisis, a new security package and economic reforms were set Wednesday to dominate proceedings as Italian Prime Minster Silvio Berlusconi and his cabinet convened for a meeting in the southern port city.

Berlusconi has made it his newly-elected government's priority to clear the streets of Naples and neighbouring areas, where rubbish has gone largely uncollected since December 2007 when local dump sites became full.

On Wednesday Berlusconi was keeping a promise, made in the aftermath of his April election triumph, to hold his cabinet's first "operational" meeting in Naples.

A speedily arranged removal operation, has ensured that the streets around the meeting's venue, the central Piazza del Plebiscito square, showed no trace of the piles of trash common just a few days ago.

Critics who called the exercise "window-dressing" are challenging Berlusconi to show he is serious about tackling a problem which has been blamed on the mafia's infiltration of the lucrative waste removal business, as well as the ineptitude of local authorities.

Some 1,000 police have been deployed in downtown Naples ahead of the cabinet meeting which is scheduled to begin at midday and against which several demonstrations have been planned.

With thousands of tons of refuse still amassed in much of the city and its hinterland, health officials have warned of the threat of disease and risks posed by the toxic fumes released by rubbish set on fire by exasperated residents.

On Monday the European Union Environment Commissioner, Stavros Dimas, urged Berlusconi's government to swiftly seek solutions to the crisis, over which the EU has announced it will take Italy to the European Court of Justice.

Also likely to come under international scrutiny, is the government's proposed security package, which is set to include a proposal to make illegal immigration a crime.

Indications are that the package could also contain measures to tighten border checks to stem immigration flows, despite Italy's membership in the European Union passport-free Schengen Zone.

Interior Minister Roberto Maroni has also said he favours the closure of squatter camps housing ethnic Roma communities in many of Italy's major cities.

Europe's leading human rights watchdog and Spain have both expressed concern over last week's incidents involving the torching of a Roma camp in Naples after a Roma teenage girl was arrested following an alleged baby-snatching episode, and a police sweep in which scores of immigrants were arrested throughout Italy.

On Wednesday, Berlusconi's cabinet is also expected to approve tax cuts, a bastion of his election campaign, including eliminating the tax on a primary residence. (dpa)