HIBAPRESS – Abdel Latif Barca
The figures contained in the joint oversight report by the General Inspectorate of Territorial Administration and the General Inspectorate of Finance, prepared in June 2025 concerning the management of the Souss-Massa Region Council during the years 2022 and 2023, reveal a striking financial paradox, prominently characterized by rising debt versus a decline in real surplus and weak mobilization of own resources.
The net debt principal increased by 30.23 percent, settling at 1.178 billion dirhams by the end of 2023, while the real surplus declined from 163.6 million dirhams to 28.6 million dirhams, a decrease of approximately 82.5 percent. More significantly, debt servicing consumed the equivalent of 43.32 percent of management expenses in 2023, compared to 27.96 percent the previous year. Meanwhile, the proportion of own revenues did not exceed 4.7 percent. These indicators raise a fundamental question about the region council's ability to finance its development commitments without expanding reliance on borrowing, especially in light of its limited own resources and shrinking financial margin.
The imbalances are not confined to debt; they extend to expenditure management, revenue collection, and project quality control. On the revenue side, the number of liable entities regularly paying the mining exploitation tax does not exceed 26, compared to 97 licensed operators, a difference of 71 operators. This reveals gaps that require scrutiny in identifying liable entities and collecting dues. The report also indicated that over 140 companies in the port area require follow-up on the region's outstanding dues. Conversely, the annual cost of renting service vehicles reached 2.66 million dirhams, and annual fees of 80,000 dirhams were paid to the region's lawyer for studying agreements, in addition to observations concerning purchase orders and travel and accommodation expenses.
As for projects, technical defects were observed in roads and water facilities in several provinces of the region, placing the effectiveness of technical supervision and follow-up on contractors' commitments at the heart of accountability for the quality of public fund expenditure.
The institutional dimension of the imbalances is highlighted by the failure to implement previous oversight recommendations. Only two out of 11 recommendations were implemented, a rate not exceeding 18 percent, while nine recommendations remained pending. The adoption of the Regional Development Program 2022-2027 was also delayed. This program allocated a proposed financial envelope of 37.75 billion dirhams, distributed across 65 major projects and 264 sub-projects. Meanwhile, participation in the online survey for its preparation did not exceed six associations and 60 citizens.
These data reveal a gap between the scale of financial ambition and the requirements of governance, follow-up, and citizen participation. Therefore, the real challenge facing the region council is not merely announcing new projects or mobilizing huge appropriations, but rather improving revenue collection, controlling expenditures, ensuring the quality of execution, disseminating implementation results, and transforming oversight recommendations into tangible actions. The primary criterion for successful regional management is not the size of the programmed budget, but rather what is actually achieved for the benefit of the residents of Souss-Massa, while respecting the rules of transparency and linking responsibility to accountability.
