Protesters close oil pumping sluice gate in center-west Tunisia
By PANA
Demonstrators at Tunisia’s Al Douleb, in Kasserine, has closed oil sluice gates and forced workers of the oil company, “Serept”, to leave the unit, reliable sources said.
The demonstrators closed the sluice gate following the failure of negotiations held Friday morning at the seat of the governorate with representatives of the oil company and local authorities, the sources said.
A sluice is a water channel controlled at its head by a gate.
The protesters called on the authorities to find solutions to the job crisis in the region and improve the situation in marginalized zones near the mountainous area of Al Douleb where the oilfield is located.
The sit-in before the Al Douleb field began a month ago, followed by the closure of the sluice gate but after the intervention of regional authorities, an agreement was reached to call off the sit-in.
Tunisia has for months been facing protest movements and strikes that have paralyzed some key sectors like the oil and phosphates, aggravating the energy crisis in the country.
The Tunisian ministry of Industry, Energy and Mines, in its monthly report on the situation of the energy sector in the country issued on 7 December, estimated a 4 per cent drop in national energy production during the first six months of this year, compared to the same period in 2019, that recorded 3.2 million tonnes of oil.
Still in the oil and gas sector, the zone of “Kemour” in southern Tunisia also recorded a halt in production due to a sit-in that lasted several months, affecting negatively the already troubled economic and financial situation of the country.
Production in that part of the country resumed after the lifting on 7 November, 2020, following a definitive agreement signed between the protesters and the government.