HIBAPRESS-Abdel Latif Baraka
Over seven villages in the western region of the Isen commune in Taroudant province (Ouled Teima district), including "Douaira" and Ait Chioukh, are facing a suffocating and unprecedented thirst crisis that has lasted for over a full month. This is due to a complete and strict interruption of the supply of potable water to their taps, forcing thousands of citizens to endure severe daily suffering, coinciding with intense heatwaves that have hit the region.
Faced with this catastrophic situation and the absence of radical solutions, the affected residents have sent an urgent distress call to the Governor of the Souss-Massa region, Said Amazazi, to intervene personally and immediately to lift the marginalization and end what they described as "collective punishment," after their voices were hoarse in demanding local authorities to act.
The residents expressed their strong discontent at being forced to travel long distances or incur heavy financial expenses to purchase water from tankers, which are not guaranteed to be healthy, despite their consistent commitment to regularly pay consumption bills to the municipal utility.
In an attempt to contain the escalating protests, the services of Taroudant province, through the provincial council, dispatched mobile tanker trucks to secure the minimum amount of water. This step was considered by the residents as mere "temporary palliatives" that do not measure up to the scale of the structural crisis.
In the context of this crisis, widespread discontent and political tension prevail among those affected, who now feel a "clear duality" in the discourse of the President of the Isen Communal Council, who belongs to the Justice and Development Party. While the president makes statements confirming intensive efforts and coordination with the authorities to resolve the crisis, residents on the ground observe inaction, lacking any transparent official communication that sets a timeline for the return of water or clarifies the real technical reasons behind this prolonged interruption.
This gap between promises and reality has fueled strong fears and suspicions among residents and civil society organizations that the deprivation of the seven specific villages from this vital resource may be linked to settling narrow political scores and an implicit punishment based on the results and inclinations of the residents in the September 23 elections.
Local actors considered linking the right to potable water to political loyalties as a grave violation of citizens' constitutional rights.
For his part, the head of the commune defers the management of future sustainable solutions to the regional company for multi-services "Souss-Massa," which is authorized to manage the water and electricity sector in the region. However, the residents can no longer bear the wait in the face of severe thirst, demanding Governor Amazazi to open a transparent investigation into the management of current communal wells, and to push for the digging of new wells near the Souss River to save the region from drought, and to block any political exploitation of the potable water sector.
