Casablanca Council Meeting: Al Omrane Faces Criticism Over Slum Rehousing Project

"Many comments were made regarding item twenty, relating to infrastructure in the Salam 1 and 2 areas in the Sidi Moumen district, where this item provoked vehement interventions from several opposition groups, including that of the Party of Justice and Development. [...] All the observations were made against the Al Omrane company," reported the PJD councilor on the Casablanca-Settat Regional Council to the Al Omk website. According to his explanations, "the Al Omrane company was responsible for rehousing the inhabitants of the slums in the Sidi Moumen region, but it handed over this area to the municipality of Casablanca in a deplorable state."

According to the PJD elected official, "many alleys and avenues in the Sidi Moumen region are now devoid of sidewalks, and waste is accumulating in several neighborhoods, in addition to the fact that some deteriorated roads have not been asphalted." He mentions one of the most important remarks made during the extraordinary session of the Casablanca-Settat Regional Council. "[...] Several agreements signed during the regional forum last September were mere formalities, whereas we had hoped that they would be discussed before the session was held," he stressed.

The issue has meanwhile reached Parliament, where deputies had asked Fatima Zahra Mansouri, Minister of National Land Use Planning, Urban Planning, Housing and City Policy, to put an end to the "scandals" of the Al Omrane company, which cost billions to the State without succeeding in reducing the housing deficit.