The most prominent headlines of Moroccan newspapers issued today, Saturday, August 10, 2024

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Below is a presentation of the most prominent headlines in the national newspapers issued today, Saturday, August 10, 2024:

Social Security Fund absorbs the anger of cafe and restaurant owners (Moroccan Sahara)

Due to the continued rise in prices of basic and raw materials, and the burden on café and restaurant owners with the amounts of paying taxes and fees, professionals asked the General Directorate of the National Social Security Fund to hold a meeting, which continued until Friday, in order to discuss a number of outstanding points and find solutions to get out of what they called a “suffocating crisis.” According to Ahmed Boufkrane, the national coordinator of the National Association of Café and Restaurant Owners in Morocco, an agreement was reached during the meeting on a number of outstanding points, including suspending the seizure process and stopping compulsory payment for the longest possible period, while facilitating administrative procedures, and then helping professionals, merchants and companies to settle their situations according to their capabilities. Boufkrane stated that it was also agreed to extend the exemption period, amend the method of calculating late fees, amend the method of calculating collection duties, and advocate for reducing pricing for the café and restaurant sector.

Environmental activists protest in front of parliament to demand an end to the “palm fertilization” of cities (Moroccan Sahara)

The “Morocco Environment 2050” movement is organizing a protest today, Saturday, in front of the parliament dome in Rabat, to demand a halt to palm planting in Moroccan cities and streets and replacing it with trees, especially in light of the climatic challenges that the country is experiencing, characterized by successive periods of drought, low rainfall and global warming. In this context, the head of the movement, Salima Belmokadem, warned of the negative consequences of the random planting of Roman palms on the environment in Morocco, stressing in a statement that Roman palm trees do not provide the same environmental and social benefits as other trees, such as absorbing carbon dioxide, producing oxygen, stabilizing dust, moderating the atmosphere, and enhancing ecological diversity, in addition to the shade that trees provide. The activist held “the responsibility for the continued planting of palm trees in cities to the territorial communities, which must be aware of the conditions and requirements of a healthy environment.”

Morocco Post Group presents its new stamp issue on the occasion of Throne Day (Moroccan Sahara)

In Rabat, Barid Al-Maghrib Group presented its new philatelic issue, consisting of a special postage stamp and a commemorative sheet using innovative technologies, on the occasion of the glorious Throne Day. This special issue highlights some of the major achievements that Morocco has witnessed over the past 25 years in various fields, under the wise leadership of His Majesty King Mohammed VI. Some aspects of these achievements appear on the commemorative sheet of this issue with decorative drawings representing a map of the Kingdom of Morocco open to Africa, highlighting the Morocco-Nigeria gas pipeline, the Mohammed VI Tower, the Grand Theater of Rabat, the Mohammed VI Football Academy, and an aerial view of the desalination plant in Agadir.

Constitutional Court rejects any infringement on the full freedom of the nation’s representatives in performing their duties (Al-Akhbar)

The Constitutional Court issued a decision on the internal regulations of the House of Representatives, which include a parliamentary code of ethics aimed at containing parliamentarians prosecuted in corruption cases. The code stipulates the creation of a special committee to issue decisions regarding MPs who violate this code, but the Constitutional Court restricted the work of this committee by not taking any action against parliamentarians not stipulated in the internal regulations. The Constitutional Court stressed that the code of ethics should not affect the complete freedom of MPs in performing their constitutional duties, since they, along with members of the House of Councilors, derive their representation from the nation, in accordance with the first paragraph of Article 60 of the Constitution.

Due to the general census.. The Planning Delegation demands the suspension of employees’ vacations (Al-Akhbar)

The High Commission for Planning sent a letter to the Prime Minister, asking him to postpone the recruitment competitions scheduled to be held in the coming weeks, and to avoid granting annual leave to public sector employees during the month of September, to ensure the effectiveness of the 2024 general population census operations. The Commission asked the Prime Minister to instruct the various government sectors to study the possibility of postponing the recruitment competitions scheduled between August 15 and September 30, to a period beyond this period, to enable participants, especially students and holders of diplomas and certificates, to carry out the tasks assigned to them in the required manner. The Commission also asked the Prime Minister to invite the various government sectors to avoid, as much as possible, scheduling the annual administrative holidays for public sector employees between September 1 and 30, 2024, with the aim of ensuring that families are in their main homes, so that they can carry out their national duty.

Tightening control over state vehicles (Sabah)

Security and gendarmerie personnel have tightened their surveillance of service vehicles to ensure that they are being used for professional and not personal purposes. The daily’s sources reported that the authorities launched a surveillance campaign after photos and videos circulated on social media documenting the misuse of state vehicles, as some of the circulated photos show these vehicles parked in beach garages and on holidays. The same sources confirmed that instructions were given to security and gendarmerie personnel to ensure that service vehicles are being used for administrative tasks, noting that these vehicles have become a source of drain on the state budget amounting to no less than 100 billion centimes annually, according to data from the National Transport and Logistics Company, which is responsible for managing the state vehicle fleet. They explained that tightening surveillance of the use of these vehicles is part of rationalizing expenditures and providing financial margins for the budget, in order to finance programs with a social dimension.

A surprise awaits the position of the presidency of the House of Advisors next October (Sabah)

Weeks away from the elections to re-elect a new president of the House of Councillors, the Istiqlal Party, which does not yet have an executive committee, has not announced its support for the renewal of the candidacy of Naam Miara, the current president of the second chamber and Secretary-General of the General Union of Moroccan Workers. An Istiqlal source who requested anonymity told the daily that “the silence of the party’s Secretary-General and the failure to announce his support for the re-nomination of Naam Miara early on can be interpreted negatively,” adding that “the Secretary-General’s internal desire is to remove Miara from heading the House of Councillors again and to nominate a new Istiqlal candidate.” It is being circulated behind the scenes of the Istiqlal Party that Secretary-General Nizar Baraka will nominate Lahcen Haddad, the former Minister of Tourism, to run for the presidency of the House of Councillors instead of Miara.

Smoking causes 8 percent of deaths in Morocco (Al-Ittihad Al-Ishtiraki)

Minister of Health and Social Protection Khalid Ait Taleb revealed that “smoking causes 8% of deaths in Morocco, 75% of lung cancer deaths and 10% of respiratory disease deaths.” The minister pointed out, in response to a written question from MP Said Baaziz of the Socialist Group – Federal Opposition, that the epidemiological situation shows that the tobacco consumption rate in Morocco is 23.4% among men and 0.3% among women, based on the 2018 National Survey on Risk Factors for Non-Communicable Diseases. He stated that field research was conducted within the framework of the Global Tobacco Surveillance System, concerning school-age youth, students, teachers and administrators (Global Youth Tobacco Survey), which indicated a decrease in smoking rates among students aged 13 to 15 from 9% in 2010 to 6% in 2017, as well as among adults aged 18 and over from 16% in 2008 to 13.4% in 2017.

Royal grants for the benefit of 1056 needy families in Meknes and Moulay Idriss Zerhoun (Socialist Union)

A delegation from the Royal Chamber in Moulay Idriss Zerhoun and Meknes supervised the delivery of royal donations to the benefit of the Idrissi sharifs, needy families and people with special needs, on the occasion of the religious season of Moulay Idriss the Great. The committee, headed by Mohamed Saad Eddine Smeij, a mission officer at the Royal Chamber, distributed financial aid, wheelchairs and eyeglasses to orphans or children from needy families, school bags for students and clothes for orphans. These royal donations, which benefited 319 people in Meknes and 737 others in Moulay Idriss Zerhoun, aim to help needy families and sick people and provide them with assistance to meet the costs of living.

The government announces raising the value of direct support for families in 2025 (Al-Masaa)

The government announced in a publication that it will increase the value of direct social support directed to families starting from January 2025, according to the draft Finance Law 2025. The government publication addressed to ministers, high commissioners and the general delegate, regarding the preparation of the draft Finance Law for the fiscal year 2025, showed that the value of the support will be increased to 250 dirhams for each of the first three children who are in school, or under 6 years of age or have a disability (350 dirhams) and 175 dirhams for children who are not in school. The same publication added that for orphaned children from the father’s side under six years of age or who are continuing their studies, this support will increase to 375 dirhams for each of the first three children, without the minimum for each family being less than 500 dirhams per month.

Campaign to boycott chicken after its prices reached an astronomical level (Al-Masaa)

A number of Moroccans launched an electronic campaign on social media to boycott chicken, after the recent skyrocketing prices, and the government’s failure to intervene to save citizens’ purchasing power. Moroccans are sharing pictures and comments on social media calling for participation in the boycott campaign. The campaign has received a wide response from consumers, who have expressed their anger at the significant rise in chicken prices in recent weeks. The campaign calls for putting pressure on professionals to boycott chicken consumption until its prices return to acceptable levels.

Moroccan Women’s League joins the ranks of those who reject “civil procedure” (Al-Ummah’s Message)

The Federation of the Moroccan Women’s League has joined the bodies and organizations that reject the ratification of Bill 02/23 on civil procedure. In a statement, the Federation considered some of the provisions contained in the bill to be “a constitutional setback and a legal regression, as they affect the principles of human rights in their universality and comprehensiveness, including mainly the violation of the principle of a fair trial and the sanctity of final judicial rulings and decisions that have the force of res judicata through Article 17.” According to the Federation, this “setback” is represented in “the violation of the principle of free and informed access to justice by capping appeals and cassation,” at a time when the Federation is still demanding that women enjoy legal aid by force of law, and the removal of the material and procedural obstacles they face in accessing redress.

Dakhla Power Plant Obtains ISO 14001 Certification for Environmental Management (Al-Ummah Message)

The Dakhla power plant has obtained the ISO 14001 certification, version 2015, for environmental management, after successfully passing an audit mission that included all administrative, operational and support processes. A statement from the National Office of Electricity and Drinking Water (ONEE) explained that as part of the establishment of an environmental management system at the office’s thermal power plants in the southern regions of the Kingdom, the Dakhla plant, with an installed capacity of 76 megawatts, successfully passed an audit mission for the certificate according to ISO 14001 standards, version 2015. The same source stressed that this distinction confirms the continued commitment of the National Office of Electricity and Drinking Water to environmental sustainability by reducing environmental impacts, reducing emissions, rationalizing energy consumption and responsible waste management, noting that this project is part of the vision of the Kingdom of Morocco, which places sustainable development at the heart of its national policy aimed at reconciling economic growth and environmental protection.

An additional one million students will benefit from entrepreneurship institutions for the next school year (Le Matin)

The government continues to expand the scope of the entrepreneurship institutions project during the 2024-2025 school year. The guidance note on the preparation of the 2025 Finance Bill revealed the creation of 2,000 primary schools benefiting an additional one million students. According to the same source, “the entrepreneurship institutions networks will be expanded to include the lower secondary level, benefiting about 250,000 students in 232 middle schools,” with a view to generalizing this model nationwide in the 2027-2028 school year.

Request for proposals to connect Beni Mellal to the railway network (Liberation)

The National Railway Office announced, through a call for tenders, the completion of preliminary studies prior to the actual completion of the project to connect the city of Beni Mellal to the national railway network, especially with the economic capital of the Kingdom. The preliminary studies for the pre-project phase include “the completion of a railway service for the benefit of the city of Beni Mellal from the city of Oued Zem”, as well as “the doubling and straightening/repairing of the railway line linking Khouribga and Oued Zem, with technical works concerning the level crossings between Sidi El Aidi and Oued Zem”. According to the text of the call for tenders, “the cost of the preliminary studies to be completed before the project was estimated by the Railway Office at approximately 38 million and 400 thousand dirhams, while “the envelopes will be opened on September 19 in Rabat, in a public session”.