Strike shut Tunisian mining town after road accident
Schools and businesses in one of Tunisia’s key mining towns, Om Laarayes, closed on February 20th, as part of a general strike protesting deteriorating infrastructure.
According to The New Arab the strike took place just days after a deadly road accident.
The URT labour union, called for the strike to demand improvements to healthcare and infrastructure in the town:”All schools, shops and local institutions have shut down in protest against the deteriorating state of infrastructure,” said the URT secretary-general Mohamed Sghaier Miraoui.
The road accident on February 18th sparked the strike, after a bus and a truck collided, killing six and injuring nine.
Miraoui said that the accident sparked outrage among residents: “Such incidents are frequent because we still lack basic infrastructure Public transport is inadequate, and our hospital is poorly equipped even for emergency care, while the morgue cannot properly accommodate bodies.”
Despite its phosphate wealth and mining, Om Laarayes remains underdeveloped, a sore point amongst its inhabitants. Miraoui suggested that due to its mining and natural resources Om Laarayes should be a region where infrastructure is prioritised.
Tunisia produced approximately eight million tonnes of phosphate in 2010 but in recent years has been producing half of this number as a result of underinvestment and social unrest.
As well as this, the country is struggling with massive debts, having just paid off $1 billion in foreign loans.
The New Arab, Maghrebi, Xinhua
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