Morocco’s Highway Menace: Beggars Spark Safety Concerns

At the Tangier toll booth, for example, many teenagers engage in begging, and sometimes take the risk of removing the passage tickets from the drivers. At the entrance to Kenitra, mothers, accompanied by their children, assault motorists to ask for money, which threatens road safety, reports Rue20.

Many road users blame the local authorities and the National Motorway Company (ADM) for their inaction in the face of the spread of begging and cases of theft and aggression on the highways. A situation which, according to them, is due to the low security presence and the lack of protection teams on the road networks.

To change the situation, stakeholders are calling on the competent authorities to strengthen the security presence and coordination between Autoroutes du Maroc and the law enforcement agencies, and to implement programs aimed at improving the situation of street children. They also recommend the installation of surveillance cameras on the roads to put an end to these practices.