HIBAPRESS – Abdelatif Baraka
Nizar Baraka, Minister of Equipment and Water, revealed the features of an intervention program concerning the repair of road sections damaged by the recent floods in a number of northern provinces, stressing that some axes are in a deteriorated situation that requires urgent solutions until the programming of structural works for rehabilitation and expansion. In this context, he clarified that the regional road linking the municipalities of Sidi Bousber and Ain Dreij in the province of Ouazzane needs the reconstruction of the asphalt layer as a temporary solution to secure passage, pending the inclusion of its expansion and strengthening project within the upcoming investment programs according to the order of priorities and available appropriations.
According to locally circulated data, a number of road axes in Chefchaouen, Tetouan, and the surroundings of Ksar es-Seghir and M'diq are still suffering from the effects of landslides and cracks left by the floods, where it was sufficient in some sections to signal and warn of the dangers without actually starting the comprehensive repair work. Local actors are calling for accelerating the pace of field intervention and launching urgent deals to reopen closed points and avoid deepening the isolation of the affected rural areas, especially on the axis linking Chefchaouen and Tetouan, which is experiencing traffic pressure and economic and tourist sensitivity. In a related context, the government official stressed that the management and maintenance of classified roads falls within the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Equipment and Water, in exchange for the responsibility of the local authorities for secondary roads, with emphasis on adopting a coordinating approach with the Tangier-Tetouan-Al Hoceima Regional Council and the local and regional authorities to finance projects to break isolation and improve road connectivity in remote areas. The followers rely on activating this approach to bring out practical and rapid solutions that alleviate the effects of the floods and restore safety to vital axes that affect daily life and local development in the north.
