A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
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Thiranjala Weerasinghe sj.- One Island Two Nations
?????????????????????????????????????????????????Thursday, May 11, 2017
Tunisian president deploys army to stop poverty protests
Essebsi
warned that the army needed to 'protect the resources of the Tunisian
people' after sit-ins halted production at gas plants
Tunisians wave national flags during general strike on April 11, 2017, in Tataouine (AFP)
Wednesday 10 May 2017
Tunisia's president said on Wednesday he will deploy the to protect
industrial sites suffering disruption from general strikes and protests
over poverty.
"We know this is a serious decision but it must be taken," Beji Caid
Essebsi said in a speech in Tunis. "Our democratic path has become
threatened and law must be applied but we will respect freedoms."
It is the first time troops in Tunisia will be deployed to protect
industrial installations that are key to Tunisia's economy. Protests,
sit-ins and strikes in recent years have cost the state billions of
dollars.
The Tunisian government has faced growing social discontent over the
economy, especially in inland regions, with protesters often staging
sit-ins that block access to production sites.
"When they (demonstrators) get angry, they cut off roads. The roads
belong to everyone and the state must face this," the president said. "I
warn you from now," dealing with the military will become "difficult",
he said.
Read more ►
He singled out the phosphate industry in the central mining region of Gafsa that had "come to a halt for five years".
"What do we have? We have phosphate, petrol and tourism, we have
agriculture," including olive oil, he said. "The state must also protect
the resources of the Tunisian people."
Six years since a revolution that toppled longtime dictator Zine El
Abidine Ben Ali, Tunisia has not been able to resolve issues of poverty,
unemployment and corruption that sparked the uprising.
A Tunisian man pushes his biclycle in Laataya on April 15, 2016, after clashes (AFP).jpg
On Monday, Tunisia's energy minister, Hela Chikhrouhou, said that
sit-ins had halted production at energy company Perenco's Baguel and
Tarfa fields, which the company website says are joint ventures for gas
and condensate output.
Perenco operates the El Franig, Baguel, and Tarfa gas condensate fields
with a production of 17 million standard cubic feet of gas per day, 2
mmscfd of LPG equivalent and 750 bopd of condensates, according to the
company website.
A spokesman for Canada-based Serinus Energy said by email that its
Chouech Essaida field in southern Tunisia had been shut since 28
February due to labour and social unrest.
Protests have centred on the southern Tataouine province where Italy's
ENI and Austrian firm OMV have mainly gas operations, but have also
begun in the central Kebili region.
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Successive governments have struggled with social unrest in the south
and central provinces where unemployed youth feel they have been left
out of the economic benefits of the revolution.
In Tatouine region, a group of demonstrators has camped out for several
weeks in the Sahara desert and threatened to blockade roads used by oil
and gas companies unless they see more jobs and a share in the region's
energy riches.
OMV said last week it had moved around 700 non-essential staff and
contractors from its southern Tunisia operations as a precaution. It
said production had not been affected.
ENI said protests had had no impact on its Tunisian production but it was monitoring the situation.
Chikhrouhou told a conference that total oil production had fallen to
44,000 barrels per day (bpd) from 100,000 bpd in 2010 because of social
unrest, protests and low investment due to a lack of energy legislation.
Oil revenues fell from 3 billion Tunisian dinars ($1.24 billion) in 2010 to 1 billion Tunisian dinars in 2016, he said.
In the past, Tunisian protesters targeted the state-run phosphate
business, where production falls since 2011 caused about $2 billion in
losses. Output in phosphate - a key source of foreign income - has risen
this year after agreements were reached with protesters.
The revival of the state-run phosphate production will help the North
African country's economic growth, which also suffered from a decline in
revenues from the tourism sector after major militant attacks in 2015.