Held in the presence of the Minister delegate to the Minister of the Interior, the Minister responsible for Water, the President of the Economic, Social and Environmental Council, Wali and governors of Laâyoune-Sakia El Hamra, Presidents of Local and Regional Authorities and representatives of public sectors, bodies, institutions and companies, this meeting is part of the monitoring of the pace of implementation of projects included in the model for the development of the southern provinces, initiated by His Majesty King Mohammed VI in Laayoune, on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the glorious Green March, Interior Ministry said in a statement .
The meeting was devoted to presenting the status of implementation of commitments under the Southern Provinces Development Model, assessing achievements and promoting measures to accelerate realization of the objectives envisaged in accordance with the High Royal Instructions and thus achieve the aims of this model consisting of making the southern provinces a bridge of common exchange and development with neighboring countries and Afro-Atlantic space and a main door towards Africa with a view to consolidating cooperation with its promising economies within the framework of Morocco's strategic orientation towards the African depth and the development of the South-South partnership, in particular after royal visits by HM the King in several countries of West Africa.
Speaking on this occasion, the Minister of the Interior assured the population of the southern provinces of the sollicitude of the Sovereign who surrounds the inhabitants of the region who, throughout the course of history, expressed their attachement to the Glorious Alawite Throne, adding that the development dimension is one of the manifestations of the High Solicitude towards the provinces through several development plans and programs with significant positive social, economic, cultural and environmental issues, which have taken a new turn since the royal speech on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the Green March when the Sovereign launched the Southern Provinces development model that will open up promising horizons for these provinces based on a holistic approach that makes this model a distinguished example to follow.
After recalling the outline of this development model, which was allocated a global investment amounting at 77 billion MAD, the minister spoke about the pace of implementation one year after the launch of this program for the implementation of several projects scheduled for 2016.
34 projects totaling 39.1 billion dirhams were launched in the year 2016 under the new development model for southern provinces which is worth 77 bln MAD and was kicked off by HM King Mohammed VI on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the Glorious Green March, the interior minister announced on Wednesday in Laayoune.
In a meeting, attended mainly by minister delegate for the interior minister and minister delegate for water, and meant to examine the progress of the new development model for southern provinces a year after its launch, the minister added that the rate of the launch of works related to economic projects stands at 99%, against 82% for infrastructure and territory development projects and 52% for social projects, said the interior ministry in a statement.
The official underlined the importance given to the Laâyoune-Sakiat El Hamra region within the framework of the said model given that it received a budget of 41.6 billion dirhams, noting that the building works for 50 projects totaling 23 bln MAD were launched.
The projects include a motorway, the "Phosboucraa" industrial development program, Foum El Oued science and technology park project, and two solar energy units in Laâyoune and Boujdour, in addition to a number of social projects in the fields of education, culture, employment, and handicraft slated for 2017, he said.
News and events on Western Sahara/ CORCAS