Land Fraud Scheme Targets World Cup 2030 Sites in Morocco

According to local associations in Lahraouyine, attempts at fraud, consisting of illegally building, without official contracts and for large sums of money, on land intended to be expropriated for the 2030 World Cup, in order to obtain compensation, are underway. Land abandoned in Lahraouyine, in particular after the violence of the 1990s committed during campaigns to fight against unsanitary housing, is targeted, reports Assabah. Individuals are reselling them, promising buyers lucrative compensation in the event of expropriation.

The prices of these plots vary between 80,000 and 200,000 dirhams depending on their size. Speculators buy land parcels, divide them into several lots, and resell most of these lots while keeping a portion for themselves. The transactions were carried out on the basis of verbal commitments between the parties concerned, it is specified. This practice applies to land of different sizes. As a result, it has contributed to the rapid expansion of informal housing in the region.

According to an unofficial list of the compensation planned by the State for these expropriations, the compensation for concrete houses would be around 2,000 dirhams per square meter and 1,500 dirhams per square meter for houses built with bricks and surrounded by fences. Enough to further whet the appetites of speculators.