Yesterday morning social activists, workers, ultras youth and families protested in front of the Gabes region siege in downtown. The anger was high after last week accident in the Tunisian Chemical Group that caused five workers death and many injured still hospitalized in the regional Gabes Hospital (a very poor structure that lacks many equipment and personnel).
The people asked first of all the resignement of local regional government by the famous slogan “degage!” then the right to life in a town became very polluted affecting his seaside and the internal oasis area damaging both fishermen and farmers and causing a high rate cancer affected people in the whole town.
The people also reject this capitalist way of production that applied to the town is also the result of 25% local unemployed rate so there is no job nor health (and no healthcare infrastructure).
There is also another reason that cause fear and anger: in the chemical factory are stocked tons and tons of ammonium with the high risk to cause a disaster like the one already happened in Lebanon capital Beirut.
Finally the demonstrators made clear that Ennahdha party in power in local and national government is among the main responsible for not solving any issues related to pollution and job in the region in the last years, also stopped a futile and racist tentative against “african people in town” (how most of the people refers to sub-saharan people) to deviate the attention about unemployment.
In this demonstration full of political and social activist and the people, the big absent was the trade union UGTT that generally speaking shares political economy lines with UTICA (bosses national organization) and the regime since the so called “independence”. UGTT did not even declared a striked last week after the 5 workers died but it just asked an enquiry with a lot of hypocrisy since the government officially already started it.
A true class based trade union should first of all defend workers interests organising them shoulder by shoulder with the other people sectors for the general and national interests against the semi-colonial and semi-feudal situation that lives the country: this last events are strictly connected.
In the last Stop Pollution (the main protest organizer group) is written that is a must to “change the current mode of development based on polluted industries and limited operational energies and to focus on the development of an alternative that respects the environment and human beings capable of providing jobs and cutting back on environmental crimes.” This is totally true but it’s also a must to clearly affirm how: only with a class based revolutionary party, with a people’s army and a joint people united front organization is possible to embrace the way of a real Revolution, a New Democratic Revolution. Only a New People Power directed by the working class can change this rotten “mode of development”, mode of production in other words.
Today in the capital another demonstration will take place in front of the Tunisian Chemical Group national siege.
Here the demonstration call in arab and english
English:
The
city of Gabès lives after the disaster of the explosion in the
industrial zone – the Asphalte factory which caused five martyrs and
injuries. An explosion continues in contact with several previous
disasters, including the two fires in March and April 2020 in the
ammoniture factory and where warnings have been followed since the
explosion in the port of Beirut, strikes, labor movements and
environmental movements to develop and verify safety standards The
infrastructure of most units with factories and storage units for
ammonia, ammonia, ammonia and natural gas in the industrial zone, not
only eat away at the health of citizens and citizens, but threaten the
existence of the city and predict a devastating environmental disaster
that threatens the city of Gabès and its inhabitants opposite Their / n
In
front of these atrocities and these repeated crimes, we like to live
stop pollution, and the organizations and continuous campaigns, sorry
claim:
- An investigation must be opened into the circumstances of the explosion and those responsible must be held accountable and the need to inform the bereaved families and to repair the material and moral damage
- The need to change the current mode of development based on polluted industries and limited operational energies and to focus on the development of an alternative that respects the environment and human beings capable of providing jobs and cutting back on environmental crimes.
- The Tunisian State is honoring its commitments by applying the decision of June 29, 2017 to stop the discharge of phosphogyps at sea and the dismantling of the polluted units of the chemical complex in Gabès and the creation of an industrial city respectful of the environment outside urban areas.
- An invitation to move on Thursday, March 18, 2021 from 4 p.m. in front of the management of the chemical complex in Tunis.
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