Al Haouz Quake: Gov’t Head Chairs 12th Meeting of Interministerial Commission on Implementation of Emergency Rehabilitation, Reconstruction Plan

Head of Government Aziz Akhannouch chaired, on Wednesday in Rabat, the 12th meeting of the inter-ministerial commission in charge of the reconstruction and rehabilitation program for disaster areas following the Al-Haouz earthquake, which noted the positive pace at which the program is being implemented. On High Royal Instructions, the commission extended the duration of emergency aid payments of 2,500 dirhams to families whose homes have partially or totally collapsed, following the end of this program, which had been set at 12 months, at an overall cost of 1.7 billion dirhams, says a press release from the Head of Government’s department.  The commission noted that 56,095 reconstruction permits had been issued by the end of September, and that progress had been made on the reconstruction and rehabilitation of 50,807 damaged homes, the same source added, noting that the operation to clear debris from collapsed dwellings had reached its final stages, and that the commission had confirmed the launch of field solutions for 1,700 dwellings in areas with complicated landform.  The commission also established that 57,703 families had received an initial payment of 20,000 dirhams for the reconstruction and rehabilitation of their totally or partially collapsed homes, 26,110 families had received the second payment, 12,839 families had received the third payment and 1,868 families had received the fourth and final payment, for an overall amount of over 2 billion dirhams.  The commission also examined the progress of upgrading works on the four main roads making up the N7 national highway over a length of 64 kilometers, for an overall budget of 665 million dirhams, the press release states, adding that it had also noted the creation of 4 regional equipment teams, equipped with 37 machines to be reinforced by 9 additional machines, for a total budget of 160 million dirhams.