Tangier Residents Protest Decade-Long Construction Ban Amid Rising Rental Costs

On Wednesday, dozens of angry Tangier residents gathered in front of the prefecture building. In unison, they denounced the 10-year construction ban in the Sidi Driss neighborhood, located in the Beni Makada district, chaired by a deputy from the Istiqlal party, due to the new 2014 development plan. This has excluded hundreds of families due to the classification of the land they own as public areas, such as cemeteries and green spaces. In a statement to Hespress, one of the affected residents specified that 500 families in this neighborhood are still suffering from the consequences of the problems caused by the development plan.

The aggrieved individuals have filed several complaints. The decision to classify the residents’ land as cemeteries and green spaces has then been revised, he said. "We came to the prefecture because the Wali has the necessary authority to communicate with the various stakeholders to find a solution to the file and sit at the negotiating table, because the situation of the modest resident owners of the land is difficult, and they are asking to obtain building permits to avoid the rental costs that weigh heavily on them," explained the resident, specifying that the lands belong to modest people, with areas of 50 and 60 square meters.

"The cost of rents in the city of Tangier has increased significantly, which is why we are asking to be granted permits to build on the land we own," he added. And to continue: "The development of the land is the responsibility of the State. We are ready to pay whatever is necessary, and we have communicated with Mayor Mounir Laymouri, who made us promises whose fate we do not know, just as we do not know how to resolve this file that has been dragging on for a long time." The refusal to issue permits to build residential land "is a problem that has lasted for 10 years," confirmed a member of the El Wifaq association in the Sidi Driss neighborhood, which brings together the citizens concerned by the ban on building permits.

This association "has requested meetings with the former Walis, but its request has not been met. [...] Today we are asking the new Wali Younès Tazi to resolve the file, but we do not know what will happen," he added. The residents of the Sidi Idriss neighborhood say they are ready for dialogue so that a solution can be found to the problem. "We are not asking for anything unrealistic, we just want permits to build housing for our families and our children, and we are open to dialogue and ready to sit at the same table. We are ready to accept the solution that the State will propose to us, because the citizens are tired and weary of waiting," he concluded.