In one of the Al-Salam Oasis woods, Sheikh Monsef Kelani Ibn Tohami, 65 years old, sits in front of his damaged cottage, among palm trees covered with chemical dust.
“Most farmers lost their livelihoods after palm woods and agriculture got damaged, due to gas emissions from the chemical factories,” Tohami said.
In one of the Al-Salam Oasis woods, Sheikh Monsef Kelani Ibn Tohami, 65 years old, sits in front of his damaged cottage, among palm trees covered with chemical dust.
“Most farmers lost their livelihoods after palm woods and agriculture got damaged, due to gas emissions from the chemical factories,” Tohami said.
The complex of factories, which gets 75% of the water from natural springs, has deprived the oasis of its natural resources.
Contamination of a natural treasure
The beauty of this exceptional and unique oasis on the Mediterranean coast underwent a turning point in the mid-1970s after a complex of chemical factories was built along the coastline of Gabes Gulf (some 400 kilometers south of Tunis). Part of its green area has been lost, the biological balance has been disrupted, and a large number of its population has developed serious diseases including cancer, asthma and osteoporosis.
Tohami, whom the oasis residents call Bu Oud, which is his family’s original name, says that agriculture was a profitable sector before building the complex, especially pepper, pomegranates and dates. But these crops are no longer common because they don’t cover their production costs.
“The oasis people welcomed establishing an industrial zone since it meant employment,” said Tohami. Over time, however, environmental problems started to appear due to emissions of factories, especially the phosphate treatment factory which has been disposing about 15,000 tons of Phosphogypsum in Gabes Gulf on a daily basis for over a decade.
Abdul Aziz Ibn Issa, who is 43 years old and one of the oasis residents, said that three out of his five children has suffered from asthma since birth, caused by the ammonia emitted by the factories. He adds that he can’t afford the needed treatment expenses because he is not covered by social insurance, as he works in the construction sector as a freelancer. After his father’s agricultural lands got damaged by pollution, they now are used to build homes for the family.
More than two thirds of the population turned their lands from agricultural into constructional because they couldn’t demand any rights or compensation before the revolution in January 2011.
Toxic environment
The Ministry of Heath has not issued any figures regarding the cases of serious and chronic pollution-related diseases in Gabes in general and in the oasis in particular.
The Occupational Safety and Health Regional Committee carried out different tests and x-rays for more than 1,200 of the oasis population in 1993, according to Dr. Muhammad Ibn Osman, to identify the percentage of fluorine in their bodies; the results were positive in more than 60% of the subjects. “This was a wake-up call,” Ibn Osman said. “For the substance causes many diseases, including Dyspnea, osteoporosis, cancer, and skin diseases.”
Ibn Osman suggests that it is difficult to identify the percentage of people affected by pollution and the types of diseases in Gabes caused by the authorities’ reluctance to do checkups and collect official statistics to avoid local and international reactions.
Tunisia is a signatory of international agreements and protocols including the London Agreement in 1973 and Barcelona Convention in 1976 for the protection of the Mediterranean Sea against pollution and cooperation, in particular to protect the people living next to chemical factories.
The Labor Regional Union (a branch of the Tunisian General Labor Union, the largest Tunisian union) has demanded that the current government forces the administration of the factories complex to establish a center specialized in early detection of all kinds of cancer to provide the oasis residents with free services and financial compensation and employment. That contributes to the region development after losing their livelihoods in farming and fishing.
On the way to extinction
A study carried out by the Al-Salam Beach Oasis Reservation Association proves that over the last 40 years, more than two thirds of the oasis palms have disappeared and pollution-related diseases have spread in the areas near the industrial zone.
The study, which was prepared by specialized experts in industrial chemistry, environment and ocean safety, suggests that the oasis has witnessed a sharp decline in its biological diversity, leading to the extinction of several faunas and floras. Their number fell from 250 in 1956 to 55 in 1990, the date of the last survey conducted by national and international environmental associations.
Association director, Nader Shkewa, says the only solution to save what remained of the oasis and its generations’ heritage is responding promptly to the civil society suggestions, most importantly stopping all kinds of pollution, respecting international environmental laws, stopping overconsumption of underground water, establishing an observatory to watch quality of life and safety of environment, contributing to the green economy and accelerating the reconstruction of the biological system in the area through establishing nature reserves.
Despite the government officials’ reassuring statements that the complex administration has pledged to reduce pollution and repair health damages, the oasis residents still live in the hope that their dreams of reviving its beauty and commercial and tourist dynamism comes true.
