A. Latif Baraka: Heba Press
The latest government reshuffle coincided with the end of the term of university president Ibn Zohr, seen as the first loser with the departure of Al-Mirawi. The latter agreed with the dismissed minister to bury a set of projects that were supposed to be completed today, or even years ago. But the outgoing president preferred to bow to the minister’s intransigence and froze multiple projects in the vast area covered by Ibn Zohr University, in the four central and southern regions of the kingdom. Thus, five university projects in the Guelmim region were abandoned, the Knowledge Village project in Tiznit was disavowed, and a major stumble occurred at the Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy in the city of Laayoune, in addition stumble, even suspension, which included the project of the second university institution in the city of Ouarzazate.
Projects in the Guelmim region were implemented in Guelmim Medina, Sidi Ifni, Assa and Wattia. All these projects received very significant financial support from the Guelmim-Ouednoun region, which sparked a protest from the head of the region to the Prime Minister. Minister, and a protest from the governor, Abhi Marrat, whom the outgoing president could only find to escape and absent himself from the meetings called by the parties concerned. Thus, the President, under the leadership of Minister Al-Mirawi, missed this opportunity to have institutions that would allow him to move to an independent university.
As for the city of Tiznit, the university had an important real estate resource, the Moano Gate, on the Aklo Beach road. It was called the Knowledge Village, and partners participated at the local, regional and national level. Mirawi perched on it and ordered his subordinate, the outgoing president, to get rid of it once the agreement to start his work was concluded. It was signed by the financial comptroller before the president stopped it. The same goes for several projects linked to the Knowledge Village.
As for the Faculty of Ophthalmology, it experienced great development in its work, before the inauguration of the president of the university and before the appointment of Al-Mirawi, but there was an unjustified slackening, and some explained it by Minister Al-Mirawi. Mirawi’s concern to authorize his friend’s university in Agadir, which he approved in record time despite the lack of frameworks and structures that allow it, because His Grace ordered him to do so, because the university belongs to the brother of the Minister of Justice and president of the University at the time.
Then, Al-Mirawi attacked the Petarodant Foundation, which had been completed since the former president’s tenure, and claimed that he had created an artificial intelligence institution, and that it was only about a clever revival of an earlier project for the university and the city, which didn’t help that the president of the university was from there! The president followed the minister’s whims to please his minister, who in turn sought to please his colleague, leader of his party and mayor of Taroudant.
Do things happen like this? Is it permissible for an entire university to develop in this way? Today, when the minister is gone, what will the outgoing president say to the people?
