The deputy of Gabès, Thamer Mezhoud, asked the Minister of Economy and Planning about the report of the presidential commission in charge of environmental pollution in the region.
Through this question, the parliamentarian considered that Tunisians, and in particular the inhabitants of Gabès, have the right to know the conclusions of this commission and the follow-up reserved for this sensitive file, which has remained pending until today.
A report always awaited
During his speech, Thamer Mezhoud emphasized the lack of visibility around the results of the report of the presidential commission on the environmental file of Gabès.
He stressed that the inhabitants of the region are still waiting for the publication of this report, as well as the decisions that were promised to them regarding a file that continues to fuel concerns related to public health and the environment.
Criticism of the lack of a plan against pollution
The MP also criticized the government’s approach, believing that the executive has prepared a strategy to increase phosphate production, without putting in place, in parallel, a clear plan to combat the pollution that this increase in production could generate.
According to him, the state invests in increasing phosphate production, but has not invested equivalently in humans or in the development of Gabès, even though the chemical complex of the region provides significant wealth to the state.
Gabès pays a heavy environmental and health cost
Thamer Mezhoud said that these economic benefits have been accompanied, for decades, by significant health and environmental damage to the inhabitants of Gabès.
He thus denounced an imbalance between, on the one hand, the wealth generated by the Gabès chemical complex and, on the other, the negative effects endured by the local population in terms of health and the environment.
Questions about commitments to the region
The deputy finally asked where are the decisions announced in favor of the inhabitants of Gabès, recalling that the population is still waiting for concrete measures to respond to this environmental crisis.
His intervention thus relaunches the debate on the treatment of the pollution issue in Gabès, on transparency around the work of the presidential commission and on the need to articulate industrial development and environmental protection.
source : Tunisie numerique
