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Rabat – Morocco inaugurated and launched several development projects in the southern province of Laayoune on Saturday.
The inauguration of the projects comes to commemorate the anniversary of the Green March, a milestone in Morocco’s history against its colonizers.
Approximately 350,000 unarmed Moroccan women and men marched across Morocco to Tarfaya urging colonizers to leave their ancestral land.
The march came at the request of King Hassan II, who delivered a speech on October 16.
“We have to do one thing dear people, and that is to undertake a peaceful march from the north to the east, and from the west to the south. It behooves us to act as one man in order to join the Sahara,” he said.
On Saturday, the Moroccan government renewed its commitment toward reform projects that King Mohammed VI launched in 2015 as part of a development model to promote southern regions’ economic assets and investment.
Governor of the Laayoune Sakia El Hamra region Abdeslam Bekrate inaugurated and launched a series of projects in the Laayoune provinces and nearby areas.
The governor inaugurated a market requiring a total amount of MAD 8.9 million ($823,461) in El Marsa, an area in the province of Laayoune.
Bekrate was accompanied by local executives and consuls general accredited to representations in the region, the governor also inaugurated four pitches with a budget of MAD 7.0 million ($652,292) to encourage sport in the region.
In addition, the governor launched developmental work in less-equipped neighborhoods with a budget of MAD 27 million ($2.49 million) to improve the living conditions of 2,800 households.
The projects also include redeveloping low and medium-voltage electrical networks in Foum El Oued.
The development program also entails the inauguration of the first phase of the integrated project in the Al-Quds district in Laayoune, including the opening of public gardens, playgrounds, and a parking lot. The project is worth MAD 16 million ($1.48 million).
The project reflects Morocco’s determination to accelerate development projects in southern provinces to fit with the country’s newfound commitment to making the region a continental economic hub and a global attraction point.
In recent years, Morocco launched several projects in the region, including wastewater management projects, renewable energy reforms, as well as infrastructure construction plans.
In November 2020, King Mohammed VI reiterated the country’s determination to make the region central to Morocco’s continental aspirations.
During his 2020 Green March speech, the King said Morocco’s vision is tailored to the natural potentials of the southern provinces, stressing that the overriding goal is to turn the region into “an engine of development at the regional and continental levels.”
