Tunis - President of the Republic Kaïs Saïed decried some ammonia distribution practices in several regions of the country, including Bizerte, Jendouba and Siliana, saying they amount to crimes.

This was as he met on Wednesday afternoon in Carthage with Minister of Agriculture, Water Resources and Fisheries Ezzedine Ben Cheikh.

The Head of State said several small farmers were deprived from this base material as a result of speculation and quota manipulation. Similar practices were reported when the National Feed Office (ONF) was created.

"Some individuals laid their hands on all types of fodder to sell them at lower prices than the ONF's," the President said, "the purpose being to cause its bankruptcy and embezzle public funds."

In another connection, the Head of State called for intensifying efforts to help the National Olive Oil Office fully discharge its mission amid a "limited" storage capacity.

He also instructed to keep on distributing olive oil and a part of the date crop in the domestic market, mainly mutual societies, while looking for new export outlets.

The Head of State said there is need to ensure the regular maintenance of dams and wadis. Several water works were neglected, mainly the Akhmes dam in Siliana which storage capacity used to range from 5 million m³ to 7 million m³.

Many wadis had not been cleaned out for decades and hill lakes filled with sediments since the 1970's.

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