Anger has escalated in Chatt Essalem, in the governorate of Gabès. Exasperated by the gaseous fumes coming from the Tunisian Chemical Group (GCT), residents blocked the road leading to the industrial zone this Friday.
Their action follows new cases of asphyxia among students from the local college, rushed to the Gabès university hospital.
Discomforts that revive popular anger
According to witnesses, several college students suffered from respiratory illnesses in the morning, causing a wave of panic in the establishment. Residents denounce a situation that has become unbearable, marked by recurring emissions of toxic gases.
Some demonstrators, visibly exhausted, threatened to enter the GCT industrial zone if the authorities did not react. “We live in a permanent cloud of pollution. Does a tragedy have to occur for us to act? », said an indignant local resident whose comments were relayed by the TAP agency.
This new incident comes just a few weeks after a similar episode, already recorded in the same college in Chatt Essalem. Other cases of poisoning had also been reported in Ghannouch, confirming the persistence of a major environmental problem in the region.
Residents point out that the promises to improve air quality, reiterated many times, have never been followed by concrete effects.
An environmental injustice that continues
For decades, Gabès has lived to the rhythm of the fumes from the chemical complex. Despite reports, surveys and alerts from ecological associations, the situation remains unchanged.
The region, once a symbol of natural wealth, is today seen as the scene of blatant environmental injustice, where public health and economic imperatives continue to clash.
