(TAP) - The production and transport of phosphate and fertilisers were suspended Thursday in most sites of the Company of Phosphates Gafsa (CPG) and the Tunisian Chemical Group (GCT), because of the general strike in the public sector decreed by the Tunisian General Labour Union (UGTT).

In a statement to TAP, Secretary General of the Regional Union of Labour in Gafsa, Mohamed Sghaier Miraoui put the turnout from the strike in CPG and GCT to more than 90%.

Except for guards of the extraction sites and production of phosphate who were present on site to secure the facilities, most employees of both institutions have observed the strike, he pointed out.

Concordant sources in the region told TAP the delivery of phosphate to fertiliqer plants in Gabes and Skhira has also stopped both via trains of the Tunisian National Railways Company and through trucks belonging to private sector transport operators.