{"id":451531,"date":"2025-12-17T23:28:51","date_gmt":"2025-12-17T23:28:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2025\/12\/17\/tunisians-revive-protests-in-gabes-over-pollution-from-state-chemical-plant\/"},"modified":"2025-12-17T23:28:51","modified_gmt":"2025-12-17T23:28:51","slug":"tunisians-revive-protests-in-gabes-over-pollution-from-state-chemical-plant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2025\/12\/17\/tunisians-revive-protests-in-gabes-over-pollution-from-state-chemical-plant\/","title":{"rendered":"Tunisians revive protests in Gabes over pollution from state chemical plant"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"article-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.ghanaweb.com\/imagelib\/pics\/897\/89733161.295.jpg\" alt=\"People march on the 15th anniversary of the 2011 uprising to protest over pollution\" title=\"People march on the 15th anniversary of the 2011 uprising to protest over pollution\" width=\"295\" height=\"196\" \/> <span class=\"image_caption\"><span>People march on the 15th anniversary of the 2011 uprising to protest over pollution<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"-webkit-user-select: none; -webkit-touch-callout: none; -moz-user-select: none; -ms-user-select: none; user-select: none;\">\n<p id=\"article-123\">Around 2,500 Tunisians marched through the coastal city of Gabes on Wednesday, reviving protests over pollution from a state-owned phosphate complex amid rising anger over perceived failures to protect public health.<\/p>\n<p>People chanted mainly &#8220;Gabes wants to live&#8221;, on the 15th anniversary of the start of the 2011 pro-democracy uprising that sparked the Arab Spring movement against autocracy.<\/p>\n<p>The protest added to the pressure on President Kais Saied\u2019s government, which is grappling with a deep financial crisis and growing street unrest, protests by doctors, opens new tab, journalists, banks and public transport systems.<\/p>\n<p>The powerful UGTT union has called for a nationwide strike next month, signalling great tension in the country. The recent protests are widely seen as one of the biggest challenges facing Saied since he began ruling by decree in 2021.<\/p>\n<p>Protesters chanted slogans such as &#8220;We want to live&#8221; and &#8220;People want to dismantle polluting units&#8221;, as they marched toward Chatt Essalam, a coastal suburb north of the city where the Chemical Group\u2019s industrial units are located.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The chemical plant is a fully fledged crime&#8230; We refuse to pass on an environmental disaster to our children, and we are determined to stick to our demand,\u201d said Safouan Kbibieh, a local environmental activist.<\/p>\n<p>Residents say toxic emissions from the phosphate complex have led to higher rates of respiratory illnesses, osteoporosis and cancer, while industrial waste continues to be discharged into the sea, damaging marine life and livelihoods.<\/p>\n<p>The protests in Gabes were reignited after hundreds of schoolchildren suffered breathing difficulties in recent months, allegedly caused by toxic fumes from a plant converting phosphates into phosphoric acid and fertilisers.<\/p>\n<p>In October, Saied described the situation in Gabes as an \u201cenvironmental assassination, blaming policy choices made by previous governments, and has called for urgent maintenance to prevent toxic leaks.<\/p>\n<p>The protesters reject the temporary measures and are demanding the permanent closure and relocation of the plant.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>People march on the 15th anniversary of the 2011 uprising to protest over pollution Around 2,500 Tunisians marched through the coastal city of Gabes on Wednesday, reviving protests over pollution from a state-owned phosphate complex amid rising anger over perceived failures to protect public health. People chanted mainly &#8220;Gabes wants to live&#8221;, on the 15th [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":451532,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-451531","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-africa"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Tunisians revive protests in Gabes over pollution from state chemical plant - Ghanamma.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2025\/12\/17\/tunisians-revive-protests-in-gabes-over-pollution-from-state-chemical-plant\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Tunisians revive protests in Gabes over pollution from state chemical plant - Ghanamma.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"People march on the 15th anniversary of the 2011 uprising to protest over pollution Around 2,500 Tunisians marched through the coastal city of Gabes on Wednesday, reviving protests over pollution from a state-owned phosphate complex amid rising anger over perceived failures to protect public health. 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