Casablanca Residents Protest Home Demolitions for Royal Avenue Project

The local authorities of Casablanca have undertaken in recent days demolition operations of houses as part of the implementation of the Royal Avenue project. This has aroused the anger and protest of the population. The latter demands fair rehousing solutions that preserve the dignity of citizens. The main request is the provision of replacement housing for those who will be demolished, specify sources within the coordination of the "victims of poor management and anarchic piloting of the Royal Boulevard project" to Hespress, stating that negotiations with the local authorities are temporarily suspended, pending the results of Friday’s meeting with the Wali of the Casablanca-Settat region.

The residents reject a proposal that has been made to them, namely the delivery of a bank check worth 100,000 dirhams to look for apartments to acquire, the same source further specifies. The offer consists of receiving an amount of 100,000 dirhams, then looking for apartments as part of a government housing support program, which grants a similar amount, the residents having to provide the rest of the financing, it is specified. Dissatisfied, the residents demand action to do them justice by providing them with alternative solutions that preserve their dignity.

Contacted by the site, representatives of the Casablanca municipality refuse to comment. The project "is supervised by the authorities of the wilaya, and the municipality does not have any update on this subject," simply said a member of the executive office. The elected officials of the economic capital do not wish to intervene in this file. The authorities of the wilaya and the services of the prefecture of Anfa have excluded them from the start of the discussions aimed at finding fair and satisfactory solutions for all, we learn.