Mdhila local council (GAFSA) filed an urgent complaint on Monday to the Presidency of the Republic and several ministries in order to shed light on toxic emissions from the Tunisian chemical group. The inhabitants denounce a “continuous environmental disaster” which affects their health and destroy their land for decades.
In a document addressed to the presidency, at the Ministry of the Environment, that of Energy and Mines as well as at the Ministry of Health, the Local Council of Mdhila requires identifying the causes and those responsible for toxic rejections of the MDHila 1 factory.
This action comes after years of denunciations remained unanswered, despite the gravity of the nuisances suffered by the population.
Forty years of contamination
Seïf Dellali, member of the local council, has given more details in a declaration on FM mosaic waves:
“Mdhila has lived for four decades for four decades at air and water pollution. Chemical releases have made agricultural land unproductive and caused a disturbing increase in chronic diseases, ranging from respiratory disease to cancers. ”
The local council claims to have passed “at a higher stage” by entering justice. Elected officials thus hope to determine legal responsibilities and force the application of environmental standards.
They alert to an almost daily multiplication of cases of asphyxiation in the city, calling for immediate intervention to reduce toxic emissions.
Previous in Gabès
This new pollution episode is added to other similar incidents. In the governorate of Gabès, a gas leak from a chemical factory had recently led to several cases of asphyxiation, reviving the debate on the responsibility of industrial complexes and the absence of sustainable solutions.
