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Thursday, March 28, 2024
Sessions

The Royal Advisory Council for Saharan Affairs began Thursday, the works of its first regular session for 2009.



Chaired by Mr. Khalihenna Ould Errachid and in the presence of Secretary-General, Dr Maouelainin Benkhalihenna Maouelainin, as well as all the Council’s members, this session will be devoted, among others, to two important topics: political solidarity of water for sustainable development in the Saharan provinces and the Hassani culture component of the Moroccan identity. The session is attended by several ministers and government officials.

It will be attended by the Ministers of Interior, Chakib Benmoussa, Habous and Islamic Affairs, Ahmed Taoufiq, the Minister of Energy, Mines, Water and Environment, Mrs Amina Benkhadra, The Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Ms. Latefa Akharbach and several other officials and directors, in the fields of energy, mining, water, environment and culture.

During his inaugural address, the Corcas chairman reviewed figures on the progress of development programs initiated during the previous sessions in the areas of housing, health and air transport, before relinquishing the floor to Ministers and their representatives to present their development plans on the Sahara region.

This session is held over two days April 2-3, 2009 in Rabat.

Referring to the visit by the Special Envoy of UN Secretary-General to the Sahara, Mr. Christopher Ross, Mr. Ould Errachid said that the UN envoy stressed the importance of the Moroccan initiative to grant autonomy to the southern provinces as a compromise.

He also mentioned the visit of the European Parliamentary Delegation in charge of the Maghreb, which he said it examined the evolution at the level of Moroccan human rights experience.

On the other hand, Mr. Ould Errachid reviewed the most important achievements at the level of the health sector in the southern areas through the expansion of health services and providing a number of basic hospital equipment, in addition to the allocation of investment amounts for the rehabilitation of a number of regional hospitals (5.1 billion dirhams for the provincial hospital in Guelmim ).

Afterwards, ministers and their representatives took the floor to outline their development plans in the Sahara region. Regarding the first axis of this session relating to water policy in the Sahara regions, the Minister of Energy, Mining, Water and Environment Mrs. Amina Ben khadra that the ministry allocated more than 3 billion dirhams for 2009-2013 to improve hydraulic indicators in the southern provinces through the construction of treatment stations, search for underground water resources, and the  expansion of the connectivity network of waste water.

She announced that the State Secretariat for Water will create, starting from the current year, an agency of water basins in the southern regions, a Regional Meteorological Directorate in Laayoune, as well as radar stations in Guelmim to monitor and track various climate change facing the region.

For his part, Mr. Ahmed Taoufiq, Minister of Waqf and Islamic Affairs, said in the second part entitled "Hassani culture as a component of the Moroccan identity" that diversity and pluralism has always been the basis and richness of the Kingdom of Morocco, and Al Hassani Culture has formed a key component of the linguistic, cultural and civilizational identity of the Kingdom.

Mr. Taoufiq said that the Kingdom's history was influenced by different cultures and civilizations with a rich intellectual and linguistic heritage of the various groups of people who shared the same geographical place and religious belief.


This session will be held over two days April 2- 3, 2009.

Presentation by Mr. Ali Fassi Fihri, Director of the Electricity and Water Office: "Drinking water and liquid sanitation in the southern provinces - achievements for the period 1975-2008, and programs for the period 2009-2012"

 

Source: CORCAS
(News on Western Sahara issue / Corcas)


 

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