By Enyichukwu Enemanna
A court in Tunisia on Thursday rejected demands to suspend operations at a fertiliser factory in Gabes, ruling that there was “no sufficient proof of harm” in the facility despite years of protests by locals who blame the plant for rising health problems in the community.
Mounir Adouni, head of the Gabes bar association which instituted the legal action, said the court found “allegations of pollution lacked technical and scientific evidence.”
The bar association says it will appeal the decision.
An African Development Bank audit last July reported “major non-compliance” on air and marine pollution at the phosphate-processing facility, which emits sulphur gases, nitrogen and fluorine.
Thousands protested in October, blaming the plant for local health issues.
This month, 12 members of a civil society organisation, Stop Pollution received one-year prison sentences over a 2020 protest.
Despite a 2017 promise to gradually close the plant, authorities are ramping up production to capitalise on rising global fertiliser prices, aiming for a fourfold increase by 2030.
The African Development Bank last month approved $110 million for “environmental upgrading” of the factory, which President Kais Saied calls a “pillar of the national economy.”
