Hundreds of citizens took to the streets on Saturday October 25 in Tunis to make the voice of a forgotten South heard. At the call of the “Stop Pollution” movement, a march organized in the Lafayette district, in support of the inhabitants of Gabès, strangled for decades by industrial pollution from the Tunisian Chemical Group (GCT).
Gabès’ anger rises to Tunis
Starting from the headquarters of the National Union of Tunisian Journalists (SNJT), the march ended in front of the headquarters of the GCT, symbol of an industrial system considered “toxic”. Banners in hand, the demonstrators demanded the dismantling of the chemical units installed in Gabès and the guarantee of the fundamental right to a healthy environment.
“We are here because Gabès is suffocating,” said Saber Ammar, member of the Stop Pollution movement. According to him, recent cases of asphyxiation among residents, including students, demonstrate an ignored health emergency. “This mobilization is a cry for the right to live, quite simply,” he added.
“Gabes is not a sacrifice”
In front of the GCT headquarters, slogans rang out: “Gabès wants to breathe”, “Stop environmental crimes”, “Health is not negotiable”. The speakers denounced a system where political promises follow one another without effect, and where ecological degradation continues to threaten wildlife, cultures and inhabitants.
Local associations demand a structural solution, far from cosmetic measures such as simple recruitment or the extension of the chemical complex. In their eyes, only the relocation of polluting units can put an end to this slow catastrophe.
This march is the second in a week, proof of growing mobilization around the environmental drama of Gabès. For more than ten years, the Stop Pollution movement, born in 2012, has been fighting against attacks on public health and the destruction of ecosystems, not only in Gabès but also in Gafsa and other mining regions of the country.
The message today is clear: Gabès no longer wants to be the price to pay for industrial development.
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