The Director of Quarantine at the Wazin border crossing, Masoud Shamsan said that the border is open on both sides, and the congestion is caused by the slow procedures of the Tunisians.
In press statements, Shamsan added that “traffic continues for 24 hours, and the waiting hours were approximately six hours. Ambulances and medical patients are not exempted.”
He pointed out that commercial transport is continuing, and the number of those passing through the Wazin and Ras Ajdir crossings were in the thousands.
Last month, Tripoli’s Mitiga International Airport announced the suspension of all flights to Tunisia, due to a nationwide strike by Tunisia’s public sector.
In a statement, the airport’s administration stated that all flights to Tunisia had been suspended on Thursday. This is due to the large-scale public sector strike at most state enterprises, including Tunisian airports last night.
Up to three million Tunisian workers went on strike, shuttering 159 state agencies and public companies, causing cancellations at airports and bringing public transport, the postal service, and utility firms to a halt.
They demanded salary hikes, and concessions on looming reforms, upping pressure on a president already facing a string of crises.
While the Tunisian General Labour Union (UGTT) insists the strike is not political, it comes as President Kais Saied faces intense criticism for excluding opposition forces from his “national dialogue” — part of a push to overhaul the Tunisian state, and consolidate an ongoing power grab.
The President sacked the government and suspended Parliament in July last year. This was before dissolving the legislature in March, and sacking scores of judges by decree early this month.