Jobless protest against corruption in employment Southern Algeria

Over 3,000 jobless protested on Sunday, in a mass peaceful march, which started from the municipality square towards Hassi Messaoud, amid angry atmosphere, chanting phrases which denounce humiliation and marginalization in employment in oil companies, and call for punishing the corrupted in the file of creating jobs, coinciding with February 24, the anniversary of hydrocarbons nationalization.

Jobless tried first to walk at a distance of 80 km on foot towards the capital of black gold, in order to raise their voices to the country’s high authorities, after what they call as the policy of throwing dust in the eyes, and the treatment of officials using the deaf in ceremony’s manner, especially after the prime minister’s visit along with seven ministers to the area to no avail, according to statements of jobless youth to Echorouk in Ouergla, southern Algeria.

Security services monitored the movement of the protest which included jobless from various ages, from the center of the city until it’s start, paying a distance of 20 km. Jobless raise slogans which ask for ending what was described as  a farce and combatting bribery and rampant cronyism, inside the empires of national and foreign oil companies.                                                         

The protest roamed principle streets amid applauding of citizens near government buildings, like the headquarter of regional security, gas stations, police stations, customs and the barracks of the fourth military region, without causing acts of vandalism, while a MP Habib Koraichi  led the protest at the first ranks to advise them not to enter Hassi Messaoud region, and give their demands to the authorities only. He told Echorouk that high authorities should intervene seriously to solve this complicated file and close it definitively, instead of the prosthetic solutions which did not bring a benefit since years, as hundreds of jobless are still waiting for jobs opportunities, including university graduates in the field of oil and industrial security.

The protest was prepared days ago, aiming to pay 80 km on foots at the anniversary of hydrocarbons nationalization, which is the first of the kind. It raised fears among police services which prefer not to cause clashes with youth, to avoid dangerous results, especially on such historical day, and resorted only to close ports with human walls by the anti riots men at the security checkpoint of Tougourt and Hassi Messaoud crossroad, preventing youth to reach the oil city which included more than 300 oil companies, while the protesters hand over a letter, amid organized atmosphere, to the representative of security services, in order to give it to the governor, who refused to meet them at the municipality square before the start of the march. 

Proposed demands includes sending a national committee to analyze the market of employment with the participation of representatives of jobless, firing officials implicated in corruption at the file of employment, especially at the regional agency of employment, ANEM, creating jobs at oil companies and participation of jobless at the regional committee that was recently created at the local popular council, in addition to treating the issue of the prohibitive conditions that are imposed by national companies, like foreign languages in simple jobs.