Es-Semara rehousing completes as Laayoune-Sakia El Hamra is declared slum-free
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Morocco's Laayoune-Sakia El Hamra region has been declared free of substandard housing after a programme in Es-Semara rehoused 4,357 families at a ministry cost of close to MAD 687 million.
The Laayoune-Sakia El Hamra region was declared a "slum-free region" on Tuesday at a ceremony in Es-Semara led by Samir Belfkih, minister of national territorial planning, urban planning, housing and urban policy, and Fatima Saadi, the minister delegate for housing and urban policy.
The declaration follows a programme to eliminate substandard housing in Es-Semara that benefited 4,357 families in the El Rbib and El Gouiz neighbourhoods. Of those, 2,453 received houses and 1,904 received serviced plots of land, while 3,724 shacks were demolished. The ministry's financial contribution came to close to MAD 687 million.
Belfkih said Es-Semara now stands alongside Laayoune and Boujdour in completing the programme, and linked the result to royal guidance on territorial justice and on development that reaches all citizens.
During the visit the two ministers reviewed progress on a project to upgrade under-equipped neighbourhoods in the city, with a total budget of MAD 84.86 million, of which MAD 64.86 million is financed by the ministry. The works cover roads, pavements, green spaces and public squares, and the ministers also inspected the redevelopment of Boulevard Hassan II.
The officials toured the Es-Semara institute that trains specialised technicians in architecture and urban planning, the kind of local technical capacity the housing programme depends on as the region completes its resettlement work.