The file on the restructuring of the foothills is now reactivated. The project was at the heart of the debate at a meeting on anarchic housing held last Friday at the headquarters of the Agadir wilaya. Normal, after the demolitions of hundreds of anarchic dwellings in the Douars of these localities, the approach is unavoidable if we want to put an end to the phenomenon of clandestine housing once and for all.

The partners in the file seem committed to carrying out this project, which will require a total investment of 200 million DH. For now, the studies are completed, and the first contracts relating to the installation of the sewage network and drinking water supply should be launched this month. This project is structured around three components. The most urgent is undeniably the transfer and relocation of more than 400 households residing in districts threatening to collapse. Ditches, cliffs, or even abandoned quarries, the terrain in the area is indeed rugged and requires protection to avoid accidents in the vicinity of neighbouring dwellings. This was already reported by a first expert assessment carried out in 2008 on behalf of the company Al Omrane Agadir. According to this study, the Douars of the foothills are built on a site with high seismicity. Furthermore, there are risks of landslides and rockfalls in places, therefore great danger for dwellings located on embankments. Those occupying the public hydraulic domain are also at risk because they are flood-prone areas. These Douars have been established for more than 100 years, specifies an inhabitant native to the area.

However, despite an ancestral population, the inhabitants are still forced to live in a medieval manner. It is therefore high time that all this changed. The fact remains that the restructuring plan presented does not convince all the inhabitants. For them, after the demolitions of anarchic dwellings, there is a new situation that must be taken into account, which is that of homeless families. Addressing those who are victims of the perpetrators of fraudulent practices encouraging anarchic housing, local authorities advocate recourse to justice in order to expose and punish the offenders. They also argue that those who undertake this approach will be supported in the acquisition of social housing, provided they are not already owners.