Owner of the olive pomace production plant owned by “Agrind Tunisina” company, an Italian exporting company set up since 2012 in the region of Athamna in the town of Karker in Mahdia, has undertaken to switch to a non-polluting activity convert the plant into a non-polluting activity and to employ young people from the region, the Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights said on Friday.

The forum indicated that a meeting had been held on May 3, under the auspices of the governorate of Mahdia, between the various stakeholders, namely representatives of the inhabitants, the Mahdia Local Authority for Agricultural Development, the National Agency for the Protection of the Environment (ANPE), the Delegation of Boumerdes, the owner of the plant and a representative of the FTDES department of environmental justice, with a view to reconsidering the plant’s activity.

The FTDES underlined that the commitment taken by the plant’s owner crowns 10 years of mobilisation of the local inhabitants against the harmful repercussions of this plant’s activity on the environment and agriculture, as it uses chemical solvents, commonly hexane, to extract the olive pomace oil.

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse