Located 80 km from Khémisset, the rural commune of Oulmès possesses enormous natural potential, but the insufficiency of its basic infrastructure hinders its development.

The commune's revenues approach 40 million dirhams annually. Among them are, in a prominent place, the annual participation of the so-called Oulmès mineral waters (approximately 35 million Dirhams), the products of forestry exploitation (nearly 1 million DH), and the exploitation of the commune's heritage (nearly one million DH). In short, enormous resources for a small rural commune that should develop this wealth. However, this is not the case. Even if the commune of Oulmès is counted among the richest in the province, it remains marginalised.

The strengthening of basic infrastructure is among the priorities of the communal council. The objective, according to the president of the council, Mohammed Chrourou, is to open up the commune and improve the living conditions of the population. "The strengthening of infrastructure encourages the creation of economic projects capable of promoting employment and thus fighting against unemployment and the phenomenon of exodus to cities," he explains. "The upgrading plan focuses in particular on the strengthening of the electrification of districts, sanitation and drinking water supply, the creation of sports projects, the development of mountain tourism, the construction of roads, the improvement of housing, and the promotion of agriculture.

In fact, we want to restructure the Douars, especially those that are poorly laid out," he adds.

The efforts made by the communal council are part of a strategy aimed at relaunching the development of the commune of Oulmès.

Thus, a significant budget has been released for the upgrading of the commune. It should be noted, moreover, that the communal council of Oulmès has signed three conventions with the Urban Agency of Khémisset. These conventions aim in particular to ensure the balance between urban development and the preservation of natural spaces and to ensure the promotion of the architectural, urban, and landscape quality of the centre.

The communal council of Oulmès has released an amount of 9.5 million DH for the electrification of 5 districts. As for the creation of a socio-sports complex, an investment of 2.7 million DH was required. The budget for the construction of an athletics track is 9 million DH.

For liquid sanitation, the investment allocated amounts to 15 million DH for the upgrading of the city centre (lighting, roads, transfer of the Souk, etc.), almost 40 million DH have been programmed for the realisation of these projects. Thus, a sum of 1,200 million DH has been reserved for the development of the commune's premises. Regarding electrification, the council has allocated 22 million DH, and 5 million DH for the supply of drinking water. An amount of 7 million DH has been released to dig wells, and concerning the development of rural tracks, the communal council has programmed a budget of 60 million DH. Furthermore, the project for the 30 ha tourist zone has been allocated a budget of 70 million DH.

-* Locality with an agricultural vocation.

-* The population numbers 19,014 (2004) inhabitants.

-* Livestock and agriculture constitute the backbone of its economy.

-* It covers an area of 540 km², and is located at an altitude of 1,220 km.