Land Limbo: Moroccan Farmers and Homebuyers Trapped in 16-Year Development Nightmare

The farmers whose land had been expropriated claim that the delay in the payment of compensation has affected their daily lives, as the land was their only source of livelihood. As for the beneficiaries, they say they are living an endless wait, despite having completed all the required administrative and financial procedures. According to Al3omk, the people concerned had addressed correspondence in 2022 to the wali of the Marrakech-Safi region, the regional director of the Al Omrane Marrakech-Safi establishment, the pasha of the city of Tamansourt, as well as the Minister of Territorial Development, Urban Planning, Housing and City Policy, to inform them of this problem and call for its resolution. Without success.

In one of these letters, the aggrieved persons requested "urgent intervention to do justice to the farmers who have not yet received their rights and compensation for their land, as well as an acceleration of the realization of the extension subdivision and the handing over of the plots to the beneficiaries who have been waiting for more than fourteen years", considering that what they have experienced was not a simple administrative delay, but "a violation of their fundamental rights to housing and fair compensation". The complainants point out that many of them are living in difficult conditions due to this situation, facing high rental costs and various charges.

Faced with this injustice, the victims have organized several sit-ins over the years to demand justice. Their latest demonstration was held on Wednesday, October 22, in front of the Al Omrane headquarters in Marrakech, where the people concerned reiterated their call for urgent intervention to end these long years of waiting, determined to continue their fight until their demands are met.