Casablanca Demolitions Spark Controversy Amid World Cup Preparations

Casablanca is changing. Intense demolition operations have targeted the medina, El Hassani district, El Hassani Aïn Sebaâ, and Hay Mohammadi district as part of expropriation procedures for public utility. These operations also aim to free Casablanca from precarious housing with the goal of redeveloping the city’s urban space. The series of demolition operations taking place in the Casablanca-Settat region is part of the state’s efforts to rehabilitate the urban fabric and modernize the city’s infrastructure, a necessary orientation for urban development, explains to Al3omk the coordinator of the Coordination of Victims of Demolition Decisions in the Medina.

Thus, the victims of demolition decisions understand the merits of these demolition operations. However, they denounce the speed in the execution of administrative decisions and orders from the Ministry of Interior.
The latter criticizes the authorities for not having adopted a real participatory approach with the affected populations. According to him, the lack of consultation on appropriate timelines for demolitions and relocation alternatives aggravates social tensions, and could compromise the operation as a whole in the face of rising protests and rejection by the affected families of the current management mode.

Several families denounce the derisory nature of the compensations paid as part of the expropriation procedure for public utility. "We have repeatedly asked the authorities to transform the decision into an expropriation procedure in order to benefit from financial compensation," says a woman, previously residing in the medina. She adds: "even the compensations granted in this context are low. Moreover, the demolitions occur during periods that coincide with the continuation of the school year, which could aggravate school dropout."

According to the explanations of a lawyer at the Casablanca bar, the expropriation procedure for public utility obeys strict legal conditions, foremost among which is the pressing need of the State or one of its institutions to acquire a specific land property for the realization of a project of general interest, such as the construction of highways, railway lines, stadiums or other major development projects. This operation begins with the formation of an administrative commission composed of representatives from the various concerned authorities, responsible for studying the property subject to the procedure, he detailed, adding that this commission proposes a financial offer in exchange for the transfer of ownership, presented to the original owner as compensation corresponding to the estimated value of the property by said commission.

In case of refusal by the owner to accept this sum, it is transferred to the "state domains" of the region where the property is located, which constitutes an official step allowing the State to legally take possession of it, the legal expert further explains. He specifies: the administrative court, in exercising its power of appreciation, has the possibility to adjust the amount of compensation, provided that it is not less than that initially proposed by the joint commission, insisting that "in no case can the court set compensation lower than that initially proposed, in order to guarantee a minimum protection of owners’ rights."