Residents in the Tunisian town of Agareb have taken to the streets to protest regardless of the tear gas being fired.
Here in the Tunisian town of Agareb, the residents are protesting the poor waste management system which has been a burden for years.
In the midst of the protest there is one Ben Ibrahim who has vowed to demonstrate for her 21-year-old daughter who died in 2019, blaming it on a nearby rubbish dump.
“We will keep going until they close the dump because it is hurting us. All the residents of Agareb were affected. What have we done? We are Tunisians and we want to live.”
Authorities decided to close the site in September after declaring it full but reversed course on Monday.
The situation has caused a serious public health concern, as there are records of new viral diseases being discovered.
“During our time in the field we have spotted new diseases, which we had never seen before. We saw new viral diseases that didn’t used to exist and an incredible increase in carcinogenic diseases.” Bassem Ben Ammar, General Practitioner in Agareb said.
Even as the smell of tear gas dissipates, the stench of refuse still hangs over the town of 40,000.
Clashes broke out this week between residents and local police in the Tu nisian city of Agareb
The site, one of 13 official landfills in the North African country, serves around one million people and receives waste from numerous factories in the city of Sfax, Tunisia’s main industrial hub.
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