'Leave': Tunisia's Gabes residents angry at Saied over environmental, health issues

Tunisian President Kais Saied is facing renewed public discontent and protests over the lack of action to close industrial units in the southern coastal Tunisian city of Gabes, which has led to widespread environmental and health issues.

Saied was met with angry protesters during a visit to Chatt Essalam earlier this week, an area located in the northern part of Gabes, near the Tunisian Chemical Group chemical complex. The complex processes phosphate, the main cause of the city’s environmental woes, where residents have been suffering from higher rates of cancer and respiratory illnesses.

Saied made an unannounced visit to the Gabes Governorate to inspect the environmental concerns there, where he stressed that the environmental crisis is a "national cause".

He said that Gabes has paid a heavy price due to the chemical complex—an entity that previous governments had planned to dismantle and sell off at cheap prices, a practice pursued since 2011 and even earlier.

But, Kais stated  that Tunisia’s public institutions and facilities were "not for sale or disposal".

The president was met with angry chants from dozens of locals, most vocally: "Leave, leave, leave," and "The people want the units dismantled," in reference to the chemical complex units.

Police forces were seen trying to control the crowd as Saied met with local officials.

He was also confronted by several residents who voiced fury over the issue, with one man going up to Saied and saying, "We have the highest rate of illnesses here, Mr. President. We can’t have children anymore."

Visibly under pressure, Saied responded to protesters, assuring them that the units will be dismantled, and also called for urgent, effective measures alongside the development of long-term solutions for the structural problems.

He could then be seen discussing this with one of the local officials, stressing the need for "clean and pure air" in the region, where phosphate production has caused alarming rates of pollution, and for the city to return to how it was before the environmental crisis.

In January this year, Saied had emphasised the need to begin implementing the required measures—covering technical, financial, and structural aspects— to address the sources of pollution and halt its consequences—though very little progress has been made, given the residents' anger.

The city of Gabes and its surroundings have been plagued by an environmental and health crisis since the 1970s due to the chemical complexes processing phosphate into agricultural fertilizer.

The state-owned phosphate complex has provoked frustration among the local population over what they have described as a failure to protect public health.

Phosphate production and the subsequent toxic fumes is know to have led to higher rates of respiratory illnesses such as asthma, as well as osteoporosis and cancer. Marine life and livelihoods in the coastal town have also been damaged as industrial waste continues to be discharged into the sea.

Protests against the state-owned phosphate company in Gabes over economic grievances and unemployment in the sector have been occurring since the mid-2000s, but those related to the environment and public health intensified in October 2025 after a gas leak sent dozens of residents, including children, to hospitals.

The leak reignited long-standing concern in Gabes over the rising cancer rates in the coastal town, which was once home to a thriving and unique ecosystem.

The last major wave of protest took place in December 2025, which saw dozens of activists arrested.