Al Haouz earthquake: Nearly 24,000 Beneficiaries Receive Monthly Financial Aid as of November 13

Some 23,931 people have benefited, as of November 13, from the financial aid allocated to those affected by the Al Haouz earthquake, worth 2,500 dirhams (MAD) per month, said the Minister Delegate in charge of Relations with Parliament and Government Spokesman, Mustapha Baitas, on Wednesday. Answering questions from journalists at a press briefing following the weekly meeting of the Government Council, Baitas explained that 97% of the files received (24,573) during the month of November had been processed. The government spokesman added that the number of beneficiaries of this aid reached 25,228 last October, representing a processing rate of 92% of the 27,753 applications. Regarding financial aid for the reconstruction of partially collapsed housing, Baitas confirmed that the first tranche of MAD 20,000 had been approved, noting that the number of applications in the region was 6,000. Aid has been released for 3,326 applications, representing a completion rate of 55%, he added, stressing that work is continuing to ensure that all applications received are processed. Baitas affirmed that numerous measures had been taken by the government to rapidly rehabilitate and bring up to standard the infrastructures affected by the earthquake, recalling the adoption of the law relating to the creation of the High Atlas Development Agency and the launch of several contracts linked to the sectors affected by the earthquake. He added that work was continuing “in a diligent and sustained manner, with a view to restoring the region to its pre-earthquake state,” in line with the new vision set out by His Majesty King Mohammed VI, which requires a budget of MAD 120 billion.