Protesters in Tunisia on Wednesday clashed with police in a mining town in the southern part of the country as they demand jobs and development.
Reuters reported that the police fired tear gas to disperse the angry protesters who torched a police station as tension flared up once more.
Protests in some mining communities including Mdhila, Redayef, Om laaryess and Metlaoui weeks ago led to the suspension of operations and exports at mines for nearly two months.
Phosphate production only resumed earlier this month after these agitations when a deal between the government and protesters was agreed, to end a sit-in over job demands.
Reuters quoted a resident saying that “Protesters tried to close the roads and stop the transfer of phosphate workers, they burned the police station … There is a great anger among the people here due to the spread of unemployment in the region.’’
Tunisia has a high unemployment rate among young people in areas were phosphate mining takes place.
Tunisia’s finance minister Ridha Chalgoum has said that the government would recruit about 1,000 employees into the state-owned phosphate company in Gafsa (CPG), but the protesters say that was not enough.
Source: Africafeeds.com
