Tuesday, November 22, 2022 at 12:08 PM
Rabat – The Minister of Equipment and Water, Nizar Baraka, stressed Monday in Rabat that the government is driven by a strong will to reduce spatial disparities.
In response to a central question in the House of Representatives on “the opening up of the population of rural areas”, Mr. Baraka indicated that until October 2021, 14 thousand additional kilometers of roads have been built, noting that the program of reduction of territorial disparities took into account the question of improving infrastructure in the rural world, and that the ministry devotes one billion and 250 million dirhams to it per year.
In response to another question on the “measures taken to develop the road network”, presented by the Haraki group, Mr. Baraka said that Morocco has an important road infrastructure of more than 50 thousand kilometers including 1800 kilometers of road. motorways and 1,600 kilometers of national roads, recalling that the main challenge is to safeguard these roads and improve their quality, which is why the ministry has devoted approximately 45% of its budget to them.
The Minister clarified that efforts are currently focused on the development of these roads and the transition to a rate of “good roads” from 62% to 66% by the end of 2023, noting that the support provided under the reduction program territorial disparities amounting to 250 million dirhams has notably enabled the construction of a number of roads, in addition to the plan relating to the strengthening of highways and the construction of new roads.
As for unclassified rural roads, Mr. Baraka revealed that work is underway with the Ministry of Agriculture, within the framework of the Rural Development Fund, to allocate a special quota for these roads and their maintenance.
The ministry has also programmed the treatment of 65 road black spots this year, in addition to 67 other points scheduled for next year with a budget of 350 million dirhams, he explained in response. to a question on the “dealing with road black spots” presented by the Rassemblement National des Indépendants group, noting that this operation was carried out in coordination with the Ministry of Transport and Logistics, which is monitoring this issue with the National Road Safety Agency, with the aim of identifying priority points.