Rabat – The government reported in a press conference today that it would suspend the burning of 2,500 tons of Italian garbage and suspend importation of foreign waste into Moroccan soil.
Due to the indignation that the imported garbage caused among Moroccans, Mustapha El Khalfi, Morocco’s Minister of Communication and the Official Government Spokesperson announced during the conference any further importation of waste.
Hespress reported that el Khalfi stated, “the suspension [of burning the trash] is being ordered before [the government] finishes the investigation [into the Italian trash] in order to end the issue once and for all.”
The minister added that recent importation of Italian and French garbage were under no specific decrees and rules with respect to the manners of importation, exportations and transit of waste, noting that the investigation is underway scrutinizing every single thing related to the issue of importing waste from abroad.
Delegate Minister of the Environment Hakima el-Haiti said last Monday that Morocco imports 450,000 tons of foreign waste
The wasted imported from Italy arrived in Morocco on Wednesday, June 29, 2016 and would have been destroyed in a cement plant in the Casablanca area.
Moroccans across the country have criticized the import. Some launched an on online petition seeking to mobilize people to stand up against burning imported waste in Morocco.