Hay Mohammadi has just experienced a new operation to clear public land. Indeed, a vacant lot in front of the Mohammed V hospital and the Hassan II Project residences, transformed for years into an anarchic "Joutia" (flea market), has just been cleared. The market will give way to a new project that took a long time to materialise.
Towards the end of 2012, this plot of land, belonging to the city but illegally occupied by flea market vendors, was to be dedicated to the construction of a mosque. As soon as the news was announced, the merchants expressed their dissatisfaction. They argued their position by the fact that for years they had been displaying their goods on this land and that it was their only livelihood. The project was thus temporarily suspended.
According to the president of the Hay Mohammadi district, the mosque construction project, whose work was supposed to start last April, had been postponed once again because of the vendors' protests. Aware that these merchants had no other sources of income, the authorities had proposed to make another piece of land available to them, right next door, so that the work could start. However, during the same month, the vendors demanded that the authorities sign an agreement so that they would become owners of the proposed land. Something that was refused to them, of course.
Now that the district has obtained the funding for the construction of the mosque, as well as all the necessary authorisations, the work has started despite the protests of the "Joutia" tenants. "We also managed to find a solution that suits both parties. The vendors agreed to move to another piece of land located at Deb Moulay Chrif, facing a small poultry market. They themselves carried out a draw to share the spaces," affirms the president of the Hay Mohammadi district.
Also, a part of the land in question will be made available to other street vendors as part of the National Initiative for Human Development. Even if Abdelkader Torres Avenue is still occupied by a few vendors who refused any solution, the district considers that since 2012, the file has progressed well.
Earthworks have already begun. However, the district has no visibility on the duration of the work. "The project is financed by a benefactor. The progress of the work will therefore depend on the latter's financial means," explains the district president.
The Hay Mohammadi flea market has existed for more than a decade. It contains a jumble of very old items, sometimes even useless ones. Old radio sets, rusty metal lids, chests of drawers with faded varnish... The "Joutia" vendors displayed their merchandise directly on the ground.
The problem of street vendors and cafes occupying public land is far from being eradicated at the level of Greater Casablanca. Admittedly, efforts have been made in several districts and prefectures, but other areas of the metropolis continue to suffer from this anarchy. This is the case of Deb Soltane, where several campaigns to clear public space are carried out, but which do not last long. Result: the street vendors return to the fray and the public road is once again blocked by stalls (ferracha).
