Tunisia’s expansion of phosphate production sparks public outrage

In 2017, Tunisia’s government pledged to shut down a phosphate processing plant in the coastal city of Gabes following public outcry over its environmental and health impacts. That promise, however, appears to have been abandoned.

“This plant harms the air, the sea, and all forms of life,” said Khayreddine Debaya, coordinator of the local campaign group Stop Pollution, in an interview with the AFP. “We’ve waited through multiple administrations to see that promise fulfilled, but the current government has clearly shelved the plan.”

Instead of shutting down the facility, President Kais Saied’s administration is reportedly moving to increase its output fivefold. The shift is part of a broader effort to revive Tunisia’s phosphate industry and restore the country’s leading role in the global market.

The reversal has sparked alarm among environmental activists and local residents, who are concerned about serious health risks linked to phosphate production. The process emits toxic gases such as sulphur dioxide and ammonia. It also generates phosphogypsum, a by-product that contains radioactive radium, which can cause cancer as it decays. Despite these dangers, the government reportedly no longer plans to classify phosphogypsum as hazardous waste.

In recent weeks, hundreds of residents have taken to the streets, protesting outside the provincial governor’s office with signs reading, “I want to live.”

Tunisian authorities did not respond to multiple requests for comment from AFP.