Interior Ministry Audits Local Development Companies in Morocco Amid Regulatory Concerns

These are instructions intended to encourage the SDLs to bring their legal status in line with the organic law on municipalities and to update the agreements that bind them to these local authorities. All these regularizations should be submitted for approval to the relevant assemblies and for validation by the authorities responsible for administrative control, indicates the daily Assabah, adding that the procedure also concerns the work carried out by the development agencies of the provinces and the autonomous water and electricity distribution authorities.

In the same context, emphasis has been placed on the illegality of the procedure followed by certain municipal council presidents to appoint equipment directors. These appointments, which must be published on the government’s job site, are for positions to be filled in companies where the State or municipalities participate in the capital.

A circular from the Ministry of the Interior has instructed the presidents of municipal councils to prepare lists including bank account statements, as well as the cash in their possession. Similarly, those in charge of development projects are required to provide progress records for the work, whether it is the state of the construction sites or the financial aspect. A special website is made available by the local finance department to collect the lists of expenses related to urban development, public lighting and green spaces.

It should be recalled that the Ministry of the Interior had asked the presidents of local authorities to rationalize expenses, to notify the walis and governors in the event of expenses having an imperative character and to prioritize ongoing projects.