Tunis, 29 April 2021 – The Arab Reform Initiative and the Heinrich Böll Foundation, Tunis office, today released a new report titled Environmentalism After Decentralization: The Local Politics of Solid Waste Management in Tunisia. Based on three cases studies, the report sheds light on the gaps in urban solid waste management which, in the most serious cases, can endanger public health. The study assesses solid waste collection policies in Nabeul (the good governance case), Maamoura (the feel-good case), and Agareb (the toxic case). These localities were selected after a preliminary examination of their engagement in environmental activism. Using interviews with public officials in these municipalities and local civil society activists, the study identifies positive and negative variables that influence solid waste management at the municipal level. “Although the Code des Collectivités Locales grants numerous powers to municipalities in terms of waste management, this hasn’t translated into noteworthy improvements in solid waste collection and management,” underlines Lana Salman, author of the report and researcher in urban governance and international development. “Municipalities are still unable to manage solid waste in order to ensure the protection of residents’ health.” According to the study, this mismanagement is due to four main reasons: a very narrow definition of “the environment” at the level of local administration; a lack of coordination between civil society and municipalities; the inability of the local authorities to use their jurisdictional powers to force polluting businesses with a local infrastructure to respect the laws in place; and deconcentrated or centralized institutions such as governors and the National Agency for Waste Management often overriding local authorities. With an understanding of solid waste management based on the notion of environmental justice, the study shows that, behind the national corruption scandals, it is people’s health that is on the front lines of waste mismanagement. … Continue reading Incomplete Decentralization: Solid Waste Management, Local Politics, and Environmental Activism in Tunisia