HIBAPRESS. The head of government, Aziz Akhannouch, stressed that the government has been aware from the beginning of the need to strengthen national sovereignty in a number of vital areas, foremost among them the water sector, as it is one of the first projects that required rapid and urgent intervention.
The head of government, in his comments on the interventions of the majority and opposition groups during a general session to discuss the government's performance in the House of Representatives, on Tuesday, confirmed that the government, in its various stages and interventions, was keen not to politicize the water file, in line with the high royal directives in this field. Akhannouch noted that there has been a delay accumulated over previous years in dealing with this vital project, which has made the current government deal with a reality characterized by great pressure on water resources, highlighting that the role of governments is to find proactive solutions to crises before their effects reach citizens. He pointed out that the government intervened since the beginning of its mandate through emergency programs and exceptional measures, in parallel with developing a long-term strategic vision aimed at avoiding repeating the mistakes of the past in managing this vital material. In this context, Akhannouch mentioned that his government has made a great effort to implement the high royal directives related to the national program for the supply of drinking water and irrigation water, explaining that among the most important completed projects is the water connection project between the Sebou basin and the Bouregreg, which posed a major challenge, given that it threatened to supply more than 10 million citizens with drinking water. The head of government explained that this project was completed in record time and at a reasonable cost thanks to the mobilization of national competencies, which contributed to ensuring the continuity of water supply. He also pointed to the completion of the connection project between the Dar Khrofa dam and the Wadi al-Makhazin dam, which will contribute to the supply of drinking water and irrigate more than 21,000 hectares of agricultural land. In the same context, Akhannouch affirmed that the government, in the face of years of drought and water scarcity, relied on innovative solutions, foremost among them desalination of sea water, where production capacity increased between 2021 and 2026 from about 46 million cubic meters to more than 415 million cubic meters. This is reflected, according to the head of government, through the operation of the Agadir station, and the Safi and Jorf Lasfar projects, in addition to the progress of work at the Dakhla and Casablanca stations. The government also continued the policy of building dams, where 7 major dams with a storage capacity of nearly 1.7 billion cubic meters were completed in record time, which will contribute to irrigating more than 100,000 hectares for the benefit of about 120,000 farmers. He added that 13 large dams are currently being built with a total capacity of approximately 4.7 billion cubic meters, within the framework of strengthening the Kingdom's water infrastructure, stressing that these projects are followed up on a daily basis, highlighting that even with the exceptional rainfall that the country has witnessed this year, the government continues at the same pace of mobilization and effort. Akhannouch concluded that the main goal of this water policy is clear, and it is to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past, and to ensure the Kingdom's water security, whether in terms of drinking water, agriculture or other productive sectors.
