An environmental movement criticizes the spending of billions on oases and argan areas without benefiting the residents, and demands an investigation

Agadir24

The “Morocco Environment 2050” movement criticized the spending of billions of dirhams on oases and argan areas without benefiting the residents, calling for an investigation to determine the ways in which these funds were spent.

The movement said in a publication that 125 billion dirhams ($12 billion) in public investments were spent in the field of oases and argan trees during the period extending from 2012 to 2022, according to official figures from the Agency for the Development of Oases and Argan Tree Areas.

The movement explained that according to the same figures, the gross domestic product rose to 145 billion dirhams in these regions in 2022 (approximately 15 billion dollars), considering that the most strange thing in this matter is the gross domestic product, which developed from 2012 to 2022 to reach 145 billion dirhams.

The movement explained that the reason for this astonishment is that these numbers would have made these regions one of the richest regions in Morocco, while the fact is that they are, on the contrary, among the poorest regions of the country, where unemployment and poverty indicators have reached record numbers.

The movement pointed out that despite these important investments, the aforementioned areas have witnessed a massive migration of residents towards cities as a direct result of the terrible deterioration of these oases and argan areas, which will have a negative and dangerous impact on people and the region.

The same movement wondered how and where the aforementioned huge sums were spent and invested, while demanding an honest and transparent investigation to clarify the ways in which these budgets were spent, according to its statement.