Jendouba: A ghost town in 55 years, according to an expert.
2 October 2014
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Kamel Ayadi, an anti-corruption expert, development activist and president of the Strategic Reflection Center for the Development of the Northwest (Crsdno), is certain. He stated on Wednesday, October 1, 2014 in Tunis, during a meeting with media representatives, that if nothing is done to address the demographic decline in the Northwest economic region, in 55 years the governorate of Jendouba will be deserted, permanently, due to the emigration of its population, which is currently decreasing at an alarming rate of 2% per year.
The expert, who held a press conference to present his analysis of the regional dimension of the 12th general population census (that of 2014), revealed that the demographic regression of this governorate has accelerated at a rate of 5.7% during the period 2011-2014, in other words, after the revolution. Another paradox of this revolution.
With photos as support, Kamel Ayadi discussed at length the dramatic exodus of entire villages, or even groups of families in the areas of Farouaha to Ain Sallam and Hamaissia to Tegma (Ain Draham delegation).
He also mentioned the difficult situation of the victims of landslides and the 2012 cold wave who were relocated to makeshift tents without any solution being found for them to this day.
The expert explained the precariousness experienced in the Northwest (13% of the national population and 11% of the national territory) by four negative factors.
The first is the lack of interest and non-intervention of the State to alleviate the precariousness of life generated in this region by the cold, isolation, underdevelopment, illiteracy, summer forest fires, etc.
The second relates to the tendency maintained and deliberately by the central power to externalize the added value of the region's raw materials (agricultural products, useful substances, etc.). These products are produced in the region but are processed elsewhere. For example, cereals are produced in the Northwest but are processed in Tunis, Nabeul, Sfax. Marble is extracted in Thala but is processed in the coastal regions. Tobacco is grown in the Northwest but its industrialization takes place in Kairouan…
The third concerns the flight of private capital which, as soon as it is created and accumulated, is reinvested on the coast.
The fourth concerns human capital: the exodus of human resources. The inhabitants of the Northwest region are forced, to survive, to leave the countryside to find employment and escape poverty and underdevelopment.
For the expert, the solution is a matter of national interest because the massive exodus of inhabitants from the Northwest to the large cities can only create multifaceted problems (insecurity, housing problems, children's schooling, employment, etc.). Hence the importance of working urgently to decongest the population (70% of Jendouba's population is rural), to settle them and to improve their living conditions by providing them with all the amenities of decent living (health centers, schools, administrative services, drinking water, electricity, etc.).
Need we remind here that the rate of access to drinking water is one of the lowest in the governorate of Jendouba while this region alone has six large dams?
Abou Sarra.
Webmanagercenter.com
Posted online October 2, 2014.
The expert, who held a press conference to present his analysis of the regional dimension of the 12th general population census (that of 2014), revealed that the demographic regression of this governorate has accelerated at a rate of 5.7% during the period 2011-2014, in other words, after the revolution. Another paradox of this revolution.
With photos as support, Kamel Ayadi discussed at length the dramatic exodus of entire villages, or even groups of families in the areas of Farouaha to Ain Sallam and Hamaissia to Tegma (Ain Draham delegation).
He also mentioned the difficult situation of the victims of landslides and the 2012 cold wave who were relocated to makeshift tents without any solution being found for them to this day.
The expert explained the precariousness experienced in the Northwest (13% of the national population and 11% of the national territory) by four negative factors.
The first is the lack of interest and non-intervention of the State to alleviate the precariousness of life generated in this region by the cold, isolation, underdevelopment, illiteracy, summer forest fires, etc.
The second relates to the tendency maintained and deliberately by the central power to externalize the added value of the region's raw materials (agricultural products, useful substances, etc.). These products are produced in the region but are processed elsewhere. For example, cereals are produced in the Northwest but are processed in Tunis, Nabeul, Sfax. Marble is extracted in Thala but is processed in the coastal regions. Tobacco is grown in the Northwest but its industrialization takes place in Kairouan…
The third concerns the flight of private capital which, as soon as it is created and accumulated, is reinvested on the coast.
The fourth concerns human capital: the exodus of human resources. The inhabitants of the Northwest region are forced, to survive, to leave the countryside to find employment and escape poverty and underdevelopment.
For the expert, the solution is a matter of national interest because the massive exodus of inhabitants from the Northwest to the large cities can only create multifaceted problems (insecurity, housing problems, children's schooling, employment, etc.). Hence the importance of working urgently to decongest the population (70% of Jendouba's population is rural), to settle them and to improve their living conditions by providing them with all the amenities of decent living (health centers, schools, administrative services, drinking water, electricity, etc.).
Need we remind here that the rate of access to drinking water is one of the lowest in the governorate of Jendouba while this region alone has six large dams?
Abou Sarra.
Webmanagercenter.com
Posted online October 2, 2014.
