Tunisia: protesters in Gafsa demand infrastructure and health improvements

Civil society organisations in Tunisia organised a day of angry protests in the city of Gafsa yesterday to demand infrastructure and health improvements in the mining region, Anadolu has reported. Hundreds of people took part in the protests.

“Today we organised a day of rage and gathered in front of the headquarters of the General Labour Union in Gafsa, followed by a march in which hundreds of protesters participated,” explained Rabeh Al-Ahmadi, an activist in the NGO Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights in the city of Redeyef in the Gafsa governorate.

“The Tunisian General Labour Union and other organisations, such as the Tunisian League for the Defence of Human Rights and the Gafsa branch of the National Bar Association, called for the protests to demand Gafsa’s right to fair development and improvement of the health and educational situation, as its institutions are old and in need of rehabilitation.”

The protesters demanded the area’s right to a percentage of phosphate revenues, which is an old demand that has been renewed. “This is an effective solution,” said Al-Ahmadi, “because morally, how can the past of a region that produces good things be better than its present?”

The Secretary-General of the Gafsa Regional Labour Union told protesters that, “Today’s march brings us together to raise our voices loudly and demand our rights… We want a hospital that is worthy of our dignity, equipped with what can protect our lives, and we want safe roads conducive to the safety of our children.” Moreover, added Mohamed Al-Sagheer Al-Miraoui, “We want to employ our unemployed youth and others in Gafsa.”

The cities of Gafsa’s mining basin, including Oum El Arayes, are known for their phosphate production, and they have witnessed several periods of tensions since before 2008. Protests demanding improved living conditions continue to erupt from time to time. Experts and activists believe that the crisis continues due to the failure of phosphate production to improve the economic and social conditions at production sites.

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