Printed On 22 Oct 2025
A common strike and tens of 1000’s of protesters introduced the southern Tunisian metropolis of Gabes to a standstill, backing calls for for the closure of a state chemical plant blamed for a air pollution disaster.
Outlets, markets and faculties shut down on Tuesday in the course of the strike, halting financial exercise in coastal Gabes in response to a name by Tunisia’s fundamental commerce union, the UGTT.
Crowds held up banners condemning the environmental air pollution attributable to the CGT phosphate plant over time, which critics say now threatens the well being of 1000’s of residents.
Protesters marched by means of town, chanting slogans comparable to “Gabes needs to reside” and “dismantle the polluting models”.
Earlier this month, President Kais Saied mentioned Gabes was struggling an “environmental assassination” attributable to what he known as prison coverage decisions by earlier authorities, blaming them for widespread most cancers and respiratory sickness, in addition to the destruction of native ecosystems.
Well being Minister Mustapha Ferjani mentioned on Monday that the federal government would construct a most cancers hospital in Gabes to cope with rising instances, however gave no timeline.
In 2017, the Tunisian authorities promised to step by step shut down the manufacturing unit. Nonetheless, earlier this yr, authorities mentioned they might as an alternative ramp up manufacturing on the plant.
Environmental teams have warned that marine life has been severely affected, with native fishermen reporting a dramatic decline in fish shares over the previous decade, impacting an important supply of earnings for a lot of within the area.
