Tunisia

The Gulf of Gabès between pollution and successive policies of marginalization

Wednesday 5 November 2025, by Collective


The Gabès chemical complex was created in 1972 to transform raw phosphate extracted from the Gafsa mines into manufactured chemicals, ready for use in industry and agriculture, such as "phosphoric acid", ammonite, ammonium phosphate and ammonium diphosphate fertilizer.


What the Gabès governorate is experiencing today is not so much a surprise as a continuation of the struggle waged by the region’s inhabitants for their right to live in a healthy environment. The first demonstrations date back to 2011 in the municipality of Ghnouch , where this complex is located. This region was, and remains, to put it mildly, a disaster zone due to the scale of the damage caused by the phosphogypsum discharge .

It is estimated that 14,000 tons of this chemical were dumped near the complex, rendering the beach uninhabitable and leading to the accumulation of a thick layer of the chemical. Numerous heavy metals, such as platinum (a radioactive substance), mercury, and lead, are also deposited there. Thousands of tons of sulphur dioxide are also released into the depths of the sea. This has made the waters of neighbouring beaches highly acidic. The beach sand has been transformed into an acidic clay, most fish species have disappeared, and the number of pollution-resistant species has decreased in areas far from the chemical complex. At atmospheric levels, thousands of tons of nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) are released daily, resulting in a dramatic increase in the number of people suffering from respiratory illnesses, particularly cancer.

Most of the residents living near this complex also suffer from osteoporosis… That is why one of the main demands of the region’s inhabitants at the time was the creation of a university hospital. This demand was postponed at every stage of government that followed… But it was perhaps in 2013 that this demand was strongest, when a group of regional executives presented a series of studies, as well as a project aimed at recycling some of the chemical waste and using it industrially to reduce pollution, according to the authors of the studies. But the decision-makers did not respond seriously to these studies and did not seek to find concrete solutions through their official institutions.
Chronology

October 2016: A wide-ranging debate erupted following the announcement of the death of a worker asphyxiated by gases at the Gabès ammonia plant, and the subsequent official denial of any ammonia leak. This event remains a stark indicator of the fragility of industrial safety in the region.

Year 2017: According to archived local publications, a gas pipeline explosion was recorded at the entrance to Ghnouch, which revived residents’ fears about gas-related risks in the industrial zone.

But these protests took a decisive turn in 2017, when they ceased to be the preserve of an elite and pf some associations and became a grassroots movement. Policies of procrastination, ignorance, and indifference may have allowed the region’s inhabitants to become aware and convinced that they had the right to fight for a clean environment and that there was no other way to improve their situation than to struggle and protest against the authorities. This led the government of Youssef Chahed to open a dialogue with the region’s inhabitants and to decide to dismantle the Gabès chemical complex in 2019.

2019: Repeated protests in Ghnouch due to "suffocating gas" emitted by units of the complex, according to documents collected on the terrain and videos shot by activists, and complaints reporting isolated cases of suffocation.

March 2020: Fire in the ammonia plant of the Gabès chemical complex, according to local records, with renewed discussions about the dangers of emissions to public health.

2021-2024: Complaints about suffocating odours and emissions in the vicinity of Ghnouch, Bouchema and Chatt al-Salam continue, and press articles and civil organizations confirm repeated exposure to gases irritating to the respiratory tract, although official figures on the number of cases are not available.

September 2025: A wave of suffocation cases in Gabès is dubbed the "month of suffocation" by the media. Multiple reports document dozens of cases in Ghnouch, Chatt el-Salam, and Bouchema over several consecutive days, including schoolchildren. Documented examples include 36 cases in two days according to Tunisie Numérique, 50 cases transported to the hospital according to Al-Ain Al-Akhbar, and other isolated cases recorded at the Ghnouch hospital .

September 30, 2025: 14 students hospitalized after a toxic gas leak in the complex.

October 10, 2025: Cases of asphyxiation among students at Chatt Al-Salam College, some of whom were taken to hospital, with confirmation of the repetition of similar incidents in the same establishment during the week.

October 10-14, 2025: Intensification of protests and dozens of additional cases of suffocation and breathing difficulties. Local authorities report more than 120 cases requiring emergency intervention or hospitalization in early October.

October 16-22, 2025: Mass demonstrations and a general strike in Gabès due to a wave of suffocation incidents. International agencies document the increase in cases of poisoning and acute respiratory distress, as well as clashes with security forces. Reports confirm the age of the facilities and the increase in emissions of ammonia and nitrogen dioxide.

The demands of the region’s inhabitants, initially limited to improved safety conditions, the treatment of polluted gas and water, and the establishment of medical facilities, have evolved into a demand for the implementation of the decision to close the chemical complex, scheduled for 2019. However, like all government decisions that affect the interests of capital, this measure has been postponed. On the contrary, under the current administration, production has doubled, in blatant disregard of all safety standards. The complex has also decided to create a new manufacturing unit for DAP18-46, which is in high demand on the global market.

This measure is considered a provocation by the region’s inhabitants and a direct attack on the environment, not only in the affected area but throughout the region, particularly in the fishing and agricultural sectors (whose incomes have declined due to decreased profitability and the shrinking of areas suitable for these activities). These policy choices aim to maximize production by 2025 so that the state can gather as many financial resources as possible to repay its debts to the International Monetary Fund and international lenders.
A mass struggle

The environmental struggle in the Gulf of Gabès has shifted from a minority movement to a popular one, as evidenced by the general strike on Tuesday, October 21, 2025. The strike was 100 per cent effective, with over 135,000 citizens participating in the protest march, meaning the entire population of the region took part. This reflects both a growing awareness of the severity of the environmental crisis and the extent of the pollution, which has reached an intolerable level.

Moreover, the increase in the volume of stored materials, according to testimonies from workers inside the complex, is accompanied by a glaring lack of safety conditions, particularly in the storage stations, making an accident similar to the Beirut port explosion the greatest threat to the region.

It is also ironic that farmers in the region, like all Tunisian farmers, are suffering from a decline in agricultural production due to supply problems with ammonia (DAP18-46) and its persistent shortage in distribution channels, which allows speculators and monopolies to manipulate prices. On the one hand, this product is imported from Russia in lower quality in some years to meet farmers’ needs, while at the same time, Tunisia supplies the European market with most of its ammonia requirements, with France perhaps being one of the largest importers of these chemical products.

This environmental crisis merely reflects capitalism’s desire to exploit the environment as a source of quick profits, even at the expense of local populations’ lives and the future of generations to come. The choices made by the chemical complex necessarily reflect the political and economic choices of the authorities in power, who, through successive governments, defend the interests of the local bourgeoisie. This bourgeoisie profits from the production of these hazardous substances for its various chemical industries, perhaps the most important of which are energy storage industries. Global capitalism also profits from these materials to develop its industry and agriculture and meet the needs of the global market, even if this is at the expense of the local market. This essentially translates into direct economic colonization, on the one hand through economic agreements and, on the other hand, through the use of debt, particularly the directives of the International Monetary Fund. And even if Kais Saied [1]. denies any bias in favour of policies imposed by the International Monetary Fund and the European Union, practice clearly reveals that all the governments that have succeeded one another during his term of office have adopted external financing policies and focused exclusively on eliminating subsidies and raising funds to free up as much liquidity as possible to repay IMF instalments. The current government’s desire to maintain full production at the Gabès chemical complex undoubtedly falls within this logic, and the fact that the army is being tasked with protecting the complex during this period is the most blatant proof that this policy reflects not so much the government’s policy as Kais Saied ’s own, which consists of serving the interests of global capitalism.

October 26 , 2025

Translated by International Viewpoint from Inprecor.

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Footnotes


[1] Kais Saled has been President of Tunisia since 2019.


Collective


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