Morocco Expands Mosque Reopenings as COVID-19 Measures Prove Effective

The resumption of Friday prayers in 5,000 additional mosques in no way affected the effectiveness of the preventive measures imposed in places of worship. Thus, the report presented on Monday to Parliament by the Minister of Habous and Islamic Affairs [Ahmed Toufiq], shows that the mosques did not become hotbeds of the pandemic, reports Les Eco.

The supervisory department has decided to open places of worship according to the expressed demand, said the government official, recalling that the Covid-19 contamination rate among religious officials is 287 confirmed cases so far out of 67,000. This means that the mosques have well respected the health protocol of prayers. Thus, the State plans to open all the mosques in the Kingdom after the end of the vaccination period.

Addressing the heritage of the Habous, the supervising minister indicated that over the period 2010-2018, only 40 projects were carried out, covering an area of 102 hectares. Currently, 50 projects are being completed, he stressed, estimating that the cost of rehabilitation work is more than 2.2 billion dirhams, in order to reopen nearly 2,400 mosques classified in this category.

The government has, on the same occasion, addressed notes to the decentralized officials, in order to postpone the unpaid debts due to the pandemic, specifying that the problem of mosques in a state of ruin is a priority. Moreover, among the parliamentarians, the fundamental recommendations concern the relaxation of procedures for people wishing to intervene on Habous property and the upward revision of allowances and social benefits granted to the various categories of religious officials.