Hundreds demonstrate against the escalating pollution crisis in the capital of Tunisia

Hundreds of Tunisians marched through the capital, Tunis, on Saturday to protest the terrible damage to the environment that was caused by pollution from a state chemical plant in Gabes. The protests started in Gabes and are now spreading to other cities in the south.

This is the latest protest in a string of events that show how angry people are with how the government is handling pollution and the worsening state of public services. It is President Kais Saied’s biggest task since he took power in 2021.

People in Gabes say that the number of people getting lung diseases, osteoporosis, and cancer is going up. They say that this is because of the poisonous gases coming from the phosphate plants owned by the state chemical group, which dump thousands of tons of waste into the sea every day.

This month, dozens of students had trouble breathing because of toxic fumes from a plant in Gabes that turns phosphates into phosphoric acid and fertilizers. This caused the latest wave of protests.

In Tunis, protesters held signs and chanted slogans to show support for the people of Gabes. They called the government’s reaction “repression.” The government said that people were jailed for being violent.

Reuters talked to a protester from the “Stop Pollution” campaign named Hani Faraj. “It’s that simple; the people of Gabes want to breathe.” “Gabes is weakening… Our voices will not be quieted. Our polite protests will get bigger.

The government of Saied is worried that protests in the city could lead to unrest in other parts of Tunisia, which would add to the country’s problems, which already include a long-lasting economic downturn and unstable politics.

Saied called what’s happening in Gabes a “environmental assassination” and said it was caused by bad criminal policy decisions made by a former government.

He has asked that the industrial units be fixed right away to stop leaks in order to stop the protests. Due to an increase in cancer cases, Health Minister Mustapha Ferjani announced this week that the government would construct a cancer hospital in Gabes.

Protesters, on the other hand, don’t think the fixes are temporary and want the polluting facilities to be shut down and moved forever.

Groups that protect the environment say that Chatt Essalam dumps tons of industrial trash into the sea every day, which is very bad for marine life. Fish stocks have dropped sharply over the past ten years, according to local fishers. This threatens a key source of income for many people in the area.