Morocco’s Crumbling Infrastructure: 500 Bridges at Risk as Funding Falls Short

The parliamentarians state in their written questions that more than 500 structures would be in an advanced state of deterioration, disrupting the fluidity of traffic. In this batch, 244 bridges and viaducts are considered too narrow, while 45 others can no longer support a significant load. According to these elected officials, this situation threatens the safety of users, relays Assabah.

"According to a study cited by the deputies, the optimal maintenance of the national road network would require 3.5 billion dirhams per year, or 1.5 billion more than the annual envelope currently allocated by the ministry," specifies the daily, stressing that this year, 140 million dirhams are planned for the treatment of "black spots", that is to say dangerous or congested areas, and 124 million dirhams to complete modernization work on a 64-kilometer section of National Road No. 9 between Marrakech and Ouarzazate.

Corruption and the rental economy are two scourges that undermine the transport sector, recall sources at the ministry. "We have treated the issue of corruption and the rental economy as an isolated incident, not as the root cause of our difficulties," explains a deputy, calling for major changes in public governance.