The civil society in Chebba, located in the governorate of Mahdia, has called for rapid and effective intervention to resolve the environmental crisis in the region caused by pollution from wastewater pumping and treatment stations.
Organizations that signed the petition include the Association for the Promotion of Talib Chebbi, the Association of Chebba Lovers, the Association for the Maintenance and Development of Chebba, the Chebba Association for Arts and the Ocean, and the Chebba Development Association, along with the local branch of the Tunisian Red Crescent, the Local Union for Agriculture and Fishing, the General Tunisian Labor Union (UGTT), and the Scouts of Chebba. On January 28, they held a protest in front of the municipality to demand a quick intervention in response to the catastrophic environmental situation in Chebba.
According to the petition, leaks in the wastewater pipes are responsible for polluting the sea, and also pose health risks due to the failure to adhere to technical specifications by the National Sanitation Office, as well as a lack of maintenance and negligence in the sewage system.
Some of the non-compliant standards include the insufficient length of the drainage canal to the sea, which is only 250 meters long, and the failure to meet the required water depth where the wastewater is discharged. The civil society groups also expressed their rejection of the proposal to connect the neighboring town of Melloulch to the sewage network before conducting a comprehensive and serious infrastructure study aimed at protecting residents and the beach. They emphasized that the deteriorating sewage network cannot handle additional volumes of wastewater from Melloulch.
