Rabat – Morocco’s Minister of Energy and Mines Aziz Rebbah said on Tuesday that the government has invested a total of MAD 32 billion ($3.64 billion) in a liquid sanitation program over the last 15 years.
Responding to a question on Morocco’s wastewater treatment plants, Rebbah said that liquid sanitation is one of the “most important subjects to which the ministry pays particular attention.”
He said that the program is not new since it has received special attention over the years, with significant investments of over $3 billion.
He said that Morocco invests in the domain MAD 2 billion ($227.49 million) annually.
Rebbah said the program concerned cities initially, before moving forward to covering both urban and rural areas.
The minister noted that 70 projects have been studied, acknowledging challenges in terms of governance with regard to the entity that will be in charge of the project management.
He said these challenges resulted in an agreement on projects related to rural areas. The initiatives will be carried out under the supervision of Morocco’s Ministry of Interior in coordination with the Al Omrane Foundation and all stakeholders concerned, the Moroccan minister added.
Read also: Morocco Invested MAD 7.1 Billion in Drinking Water, Electricity Projects in 2020
Rebbah emphasized that liquid sanitation is “one of the most difficult projects” due to its links to a series of technical challenges, including underground drilling in the light of the phenomenon of large-scale urbanization experienced by a certain number of rural centers.
The official said that an amount of MAD 42 billion ( $4.77 billion) has been allocated from now until 2040, reflecting the importance of the issue.
The government pledged to do more investment in wastewater management.
In July 2020, Morocco’s National Office of Electricity and Drinking Water (ONEE) said it launched a local drinking water project to contribute to water infrastructure development throughout the country
The production seeks to help reduce Morocco’s 35% drinking water productions.
Morocco’s Head of Government declared in December of last year that ONEE’s yearly investments reached $800 million.
Drinking water and liquid sanitation investments reached $403 million in the same year.
