HIBAPRESS – A. Mahyaoui
As part of enhancing preventive efforts to reduce flood risks in the Taounate province, Abdelkrim El Ghannami, the provincial governor, chaired on Friday, November 28, 2025, at the prefecture headquarters, the first meeting of the vigilance committee responsible for managing and monitoring flood events.
The meeting was attended by the president of the Provincial Council, the president of the "Taawoun" group of territorial communities, in addition to various security and administrative authorities, and heads of relevant external services, including the Sebou Water Basin Agency, the Regional Directorate of Meteorology for the Northeast, the Urban Agency of Taza, and the Regional Directorate of Equipment, Transport and Logistics, as well as the heads of the relevant territorial communities. This meeting comes within the framework of activating the provisions of Decree No. 2.23.80 issued on December 21, 2023, and the commitments adopted by the Ministry of Interior in the field of flood prevention. The meeting was an opportunity to present detailed presentations on the proactive measures adopted to protect the population, especially in rural and mountainous areas most vulnerable to risks, by controlling building permits in threatened areas, preparing maps of areas prone to flooding, and establishing early warning and intervention systems. Representatives of the Sebou Water Basin Agency, Meteorology, the Urban Agency, and the Directorate of Equipment presented technical presentations that addressed the status of water resources in the province, the black spots that constitute potential flood hotspots, and projects completed, underway, or planned to reduce these risks. The importance of the climate network and tracking and forecasting devices in reducing the effects of disasters was also mentioned, in addition to the role of construction suitability maps as a reference tool for directing urban growth towards safe areas. In his guiding speech, the provincial governor emphasized the specificity of Taounate in terms of its fragile terrain and its geographical location on the outskirts of the Rif Mountains, which makes it more vulnerable to floods due to heavy rainfall and the multiplicity of valleys. He called for adopting a proactive and integrated approach based on mobilizing all available human and logistical capabilities, improving monitoring and observation mechanisms, cleaning sewage networks and water channels, and constructing dams and protective barriers, while intensifying awareness efforts on the necessity of avoiding threatened areas during warning periods. The provincial governor also stressed the importance of effective coordination among the various stakeholders, the rapid exchange of information, and ensuring an effective field presence to protect citizens and support them in the face of any emergency, within the framework of a participatory approach that prioritizes the safety of citizens as a top priority.
