Month: May 2024

Siliana: Civil protection officers and forest guards in Siliana managed to subdue a fire that broke out Tuesday in the outskirts of Bargou on the road linking the governorate to Greater Tunis.

The fire, the causes of which are still unknown, destroyed three hectares of barley, a Civil Protection source told TAP.

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

Tunis: The Assembly of People’s Representatives (ARP) approved on Tuesday bill No.21 of 2024 amending the 2nd chapter of law No. 69 of 2003 on children’s summer holiday and leisure centres with 117 votes for, 14 abstention and 5 against.

Attending the plenary session, Minister of Family, Women, Children and the Elderly Amel Belhaj Moussa said the ministry is ready to increase the number of these centres. A new leisure centre will be set up in Tabarak, Jendouba governorate, she said.

Necessary human resources had been allocated to Zarzis centre in the governorate of Médenine (an accommodation capacity of 240 children), which will open its doors in the next few weeks, as well as to the Hammamet centre in Nabeul (an accommodation capacity of 120 children) to help children benefit from various services and quality care, she added.

The minister said each group of 5 children will be looked after by a specialised educator; a psychologist will take care of each group of 10 children, in addition to other education
coordinators and educational staff.

The creation of such centres is “costly,” as was the case for the Zarzis centre (TND 11 million) which led the ministry to propose in this bill that activities of these centres should continue beyond the summer holidays and weekends and that they should be used to organise events for which a fee is charged in order to improve their financial resources.

Belhaj Moussa also emphasised the need to give children’s leisure activities the importance they deserve as this helps ensure they receive a good education and protects them from a wide range of risky behaviour and violence.

Commenting on the call by some MPs to allow children from poor families and inland regions to gain access to services offered by these centres, the minister said the ministry adopts a positive discrimination policy through several measures put in place to this end.

In this respect, she reviewed the most important programmes in favour of children, including the reopening and rehabilitation of 68 childr
en’s institutions across the country, the “Our kindergarten in our neighbourhood” programme which has helped integrate 25,000 children and the development of 105 children’s centres, 200 children’s clubs and 26 computer centres across the country.

The Ministry had also recruited over 300 educators and child life specialists and plans to launch a competitive recruitment of child protection officers, she added.

The Ministry is currently working on developing a national strategy to combat digital violence against children and will release awareness-raising media content to help build children’s ability of safe surfing on the internet.

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

Tunis: A plenary to consider a bill amending law No. 69 of 2003 on children’s summer holiday and leisure centres began on Tuesday at the seat of the Assembly of People’s Representatives (ARP).

The bill was tabled by the Ministry of Women, Family, Children and Seniors.

The bill pertains to the two summer holiday and leisure centres in Hammamet (governorate of Nabeul) and another one in Zarzis (governorate of Médenine) which will open its doors in the summer of 2024.

It is designed to widen the scope of recipients to include the children of victims of terrorist attacks among the military and police personnel and rightholders of martyrs and the wounded of the Revolution.

These centres are exclusively dedicated to children in integrated youth and children centres from low-income families and children with disabilities.

A bigger number of beneficiaries and better services throughout the year will help increase the financial resources of these centres, the official added.

A petition signed by 18 MPs was table
d to include illegal migration and the sub-Saharan migrant crisis in the agenda of the plenary, in addition to two relevant petitions by the Independent National Coalition and Al Ahrar coalition.

The three petitions were approved by 121 deputies out of 137 attending the plenary session.

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

Tunis: The National Youth Strategy 2035 was approved at the end of a ministerial working session chaired by Prime Minister Ahmed Hachani at the Government Palace in the Kasbah on Tuesday.

“All ministries and stakeholders were invited to prepare a short- and medium-term implementation plan for this strategy in accordance with the participatory approach adopted in its preparation,” said a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office.

The Prime Minister praised the effective participatory work between different ministries and all stakeholders in the development of the National Youth Strategy 2035.

He stressed the need to make progress in restoring Tunisian youth’s hope and self confidence and trust in state structures and in their social and economic environment.

During the session, the Minister of Youth and Sport, Kamel Gueddiche, presented the National Youth Strategy 2035, which focuses on the elements of belonging, citizenship, social well-being, healthy lifestyles, social and economic integration of youth,
creativity, innovation and renewal, youth mobility and leisure.

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

Tunis: The number of Tunisians arriving on the Italian coast through irregular migration reached 853 in April, a decrease of 18.52 percent compared to the same period last year, according to the Tunisian Social Observatory.

The Observatory, which is affiliated to the Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights (FTDES), attributed the decrease in irregular migratory flows to “the unstable weather conditions on the Tunisian coasts during the month of April and the intensive security operations on land and at sea”.

During the same period, the Tunisian authorities intercepted 209 crossings, mostly by sea (71.21%), and prevented 8,249 irregular migrants from reaching the Italian coast from Tunisia, 90% of them non-Tunisian nationals, it said.

The number of irregular migrants intercepted since the beginning of the year has risen to 21,200, while the number of victims and missing persons has reached 244, most of them non-Tunisian.

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

Kisumu County residents have appealed to the national government and leaders from the county government to unite and help open up clogged drainages so that river waters could drain into the lake to help assuage the dire flooding menace that has besieged most parts of the county.

Kochogo village Clan Elder Maurice Akoko pointed out that the River Nyando has burst its banks at various sections, yet their plea for help has fallen on deaf ears while the waters have marooned many of their homes.

He expressed fear that if no immediate intervention was instituted, then nearly every home in the village would not be accessible and many residents would lose their lives and property.

‘Our plea is that the river should be redirected to its former path, which is not anybody’s farm, so that the waters could flow along its usual course; otherwise, over three villages will be marooned, and that is a critical matter that warrants even the attention and immediate intervention of the President. We appeal for the disaster fun
d to be immediately released to assuage this disaster, especially at Kadera and Wuodage beaches that should be dug using tractors to contain the waters from Nyando and prevent them from overflowing and marooning the surrounding villages,’ appealed the elder.

Akoko claimed that the surrounding paths were only 9 metres wide due to the shoddy work of the engaged contractors, whom he alleged diverted some of the material that should have been used to lay the proper drainages and failed to lay the culverts as required.

He pleaded that the beaches at Wath Ageka and Adiereb be properly dug and opened so the waters could drain downstream.

Source: Kenya News Agency

Nyatike Member of Parliament, Tom Odege, has called on the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) to ensure the safety of miners and local residents around mining sites within the area.

The legislator noted that, due to neglect by NEMA, dangerous chemicals like mercury used for leaching have been left to seep into rivers, leading to the deaths of a number of residents and livestock.

Speaking in Migori Town, Odege expressed concern for the local artisanal miners, who are not protected by the mining laws as opposed to the large-scale miners.

The MP made the remarks while in the company of the National Assembly Committee on Environment, Forestry, and Mining, which was touring the region.

‘We call upon the government to ensure the safety of miners and residents down the river and around the lakes even as they are trying to fix messes in the mining sector,’ he said.

The MP underscored the importance of improving gold processing activities in Nyatike as a way of ensuring that middlemen who exploit mi
ners are cut off from the market.

Odege also criticised the system of transporting the raw gold soil from Nyatike to Kakamega for processing as recently ordered by the state, saying this was bound to increase the number of middlemen involved, which in turn leads to the miners incurring losses.

He explained that if a processing site is developed next to the mining site, a few middlemen will be involved.

‘The reason why we want an improved way of processing gold is to increase the market and reduce middlemen who take advantage of our miners,’ said Odege.

However, he expressed his concern over the illegal mining activities in the area, noting that only a small number of the mining sites in the area are legalised. Over 90 per cent of the sites, including those owned by the Chinese, operate without licenses.

His comments come days after Interior and National Administration Cabinet Secretary Prof. Kithure Kindiki issued a directive to ban artisanal and unlicensed commercial mining following the deaths of six m
iners in Kakamega County in March, 2024.

The order also led to the arrest of more than 30 Chinese citizens found in the mining business without permits.

The Member of Parliament for Nakuru East Constituency and the Chair of the National Assembly Committee on Environment, Forestry, and Mining, David Gikaria, recalled that during the public participation exercise in the region, Nyatike artisan miners came up with proposals that the committee agreed on.

The main aim of the proposals was to amend the mining regulatory authority in the bill.

Among them was the suggestion to have a tribunal for them to be able to address issues without engaging the court.

The chair also said that the legislation is also paramount for the committee to operationalise and be able to effectively bring out socio-economic benefit to the locals.

Source: Kenya News Agency