Gafsa — "I will strive so that the region of Gafsa benefit of at least 20% from the revenues generated by phosphate," President Moncef Marzouki promised the inhabitants of the Gtar and Belkhir delegations, in the Gafsa governorate.

"Hope in the future is now possible and there is a clear roadmap. The required things are patience and hard work," he added.

"There are no magical solutions in fighting against poverty and marginalisation. Rather, there are fair solutions," explained the President of the Republic, specifying that investments worth 500 million Tunisian dinars (MTD) had been appropriated for the governorate of Gafsa as part of the 2012 State budget.

During their meeting with the President of the Republic, the local people called for an end to the marginalisation the Gafsa governorate had lived through and for establishing a development model that puts an end to all regional disparities.

They also called for urgent solutions to unemployment, particularly the higher-education graduates', as well as to scarcity of drinking water in the region's urban and rural areas.

They also denounced the investors' lack of willingness to start projects in the governorate and the lack of a modern infrastructure and health care services that meet the inhabitants' needs.