(3 minutes read)
· Over 600 containers of hazardous and toxic wastes from Italy destined for Tunisia have been blocked by the Italian customs authorities
· However, that did not deter civil society activists from the port city of Sousse in Tunisia to demonstrate before the Italian Embassy in Tunis, to press for their demand to end dumping toxic wastes into their country
· The Tunisian Customs had pointed out import of household waste is prohibited under Tunisian law.
· But these good were imported into the country as ‘harmless’ plastic waste
Over 600 containers of hazardous and toxic wastes from Italy destined for Tunisia have been blocked by the Italian customs authorities. However, that did not deter civil society activists from the port city of Sousse in Tunisia to demonstrate before the Italian Embassy in Tunis, to press for their demand to end dumping toxic wastes into their country.
The demonstrating Tunisians wanted repatriation to Italy of 282 containers of Italian waste still blocked at the port of Sousse. The angry demonstrators shouted that Tunisia was not the trash of Italy, thereby exhorting Italian authorities to take back the toxic cargo at the earliest. They also taunted that it was a crime against the Tunisian people.
The demonstrators, who have been agitating against the mindset of the developed world to dump the toxic wastes into the poorer countries, alleged that these things are happening because of the corruptions in both exporting and importing countries and called on the Tunisian authorities’ to be more vigilant against the unholy practices. The scandal has led to the prosecution of the port’s head of customs and the resignation of the country’s environment minister. Eight people are in prison for their alleged involvement in the crime. The Tunisian Customs had pointed out import of household waste is prohibited under Tunisian law. But these goods were imported into the country as ‘harmless’ plastic waste. Recently in 2019 the Philippines shipped back thousands of tonnes of trash to Canada after a heated row over the import of toxic wastes.
