Protests Spread In Tunisia's Interior Demanding Jobs

Tunis, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 25th Nov, 2020 ) :Demonstrations have spread in Tunisia's interior to demand work and investment in the traditionally marginalised region.

The latest protests in the country's centre and south come after residents of the southern city of Tataouine reached a November 7 deal with the government to end a months-long blockade of an oil installation.

In exchange, the administration of Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi agreed to create hundreds of jobs and a fund to launch economic projects in the region.

Days later, residents of the central region of Kasserine began a protest outside the Douleb oil field, demanding a halt in production to force the authorities to honour previous promises towards their region.

Production at the field was suspended on Monday, said regional governor Adel Mabrouki -- the latest in a string of similar blockades.

Tunisia's inland has been marginalised for decades, and regional inequalities and graduate joblessness were key drivers of the 2011 revolution that overthrew longtime dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.

Successive governments -- Tunisia has had nine in the 10 years since the uprising began in the central town of Sidi Bouzid -- have promised to pump resources into the region, but employment and investment remain stubbornly low.

The Tataouine protests followed a previous months-long 2017 protest blockade of an oil site that led to a deal local residents say successive governments have never honoured.

Kasserine, close to the Algerian border, has seen repeated protests over the years, with many residents bitter over its low level of development despite its rich natural resources and agricultural production.

Mabrouki urged experts to "find new ways to improve living conditions", saying unemployment had reached 40 percent in the region, more than double the national average.

In Gabes, in southeastern Tunisia, hundreds of demonstrators have been holding a sit-in in front of the city's industrial zone, witnesses told AFP.

Protesters blocked roads and hobbled industrial activities, according to local media and Kheireddine Debeya, a protest organiser.

"The patience of residents has run out because of the negligence of the authorities, who haven't kept any of their promises," Debeya said.

The movement is demanding investment, the hiring of thousands of young people by local companies and more action against industrial pollution from phosphate processing.