Rabat – Morocco’s Minister of Equipment Nizar Baraka wants the Tichka tunnel infrastructure project to benefit from the Mohammed VI Fund for Investment.
On the sidelines of a recent working visit to the Draa-Tafilalet region, Baraka said that the infrastructure project requires an investment of MAD 10 billion ($988 million).
“We are going to work to include the Ticha tunnel on the list of projects benefiting from the support of the Mohammed VI Fund for Investment,” Baraka said.
He stressed that the government has carried out several feasibility studies on the best way to complete the project.
The studies concluded that the best option is to have the tunnel passing through Ourika, a town in the Al Haouz province in the Marrakech Tensift El Haouz region, the minister explained.
Having the tunnel passing through Ourika is the optimal option as it will “help save 1h and 20 minutes” by reducing the duration of the trip between the two cities of Marrakech and Ouarzazate, he added.
The minister emphasized that his department is working to finalize studies on the feasibility of the project, stressing the current government’s determination to launch this project before the end of its mandate.
Baraka made a similar remark last week during a plenary session at the Moroccan parliament.
This tunnel infrastructure project is one of the “two options concluded by the studies and includes 80 km of roads leading to the tunnel as well as the construction of 10 bridges, through an envelope of 10 billion dirhams,” he told MPs.
King Mohammed VI has frequently reiterated Morocco’s determination to continue strengthening its infrastructure system with state-of-the-art projects.
In November 2022, the King recalled the need to finalize a number of recently launched projects. He particularly cited the notable progress made on the Tiznit-Dakhla highway, saying this significant project to connect Morocco to its southern provinces has reached “its final stages.”
Stretching over 1055 kilometers, the infrastructure project is one of the longest in Morocco and features plans to build 12 other major structures that would bypass major cities including Tiznit, Guelmim, Tantan, El Ouatia, and Laayoune.
