During this session, chaired by the Council President, Mohamed Salem Lebihi, in the presence of the Governor of the Es-Semara province, Brahim Boutoumilat, the focus was on the provincial development program, which constitutes a reference document for provincial programming and management, and which will enable the implementation of social development projects that meet the needs of the province.
The Council members emphasized the means required to strengthen the social and economic development of the province, as well as the need to enhance convergence between the actions taken by the various sectors concerned and the territorial communes belonging to the province.
This program, which required the mobilization of a budget estimated at approximately 369.70 million dirhams, and which will be carried out in partnership with a group of stakeholders, concerns 32 projects related to strengthening infrastructure (4 projects) and enhancing social services (28 projects), in addition to programming three projects in rural areas and 29 projects for urban areas.
Regarding projects financed by the provincial budget, they include 10 projects with a total amount of 11.50 million dirhams.
These projects include the acquisition of a plot of land for the construction of a residential complex (1.6 million dirhams), support for associations working in the health sector (2.15 million dirhams), cultural and sports activities (4.3 million dirhams), as well as the acquisition of flexible tanks for livestock farmers (1.25 million dirhams) and solar energy equipment for rural communes (600,000 dirhams).
Projects that the Council will support in partnership with a group of partners were also reviewed, with a total cost exceeding 181.90 million dirhams, which include the construction and maintenance of lakes (20 million dirhams) and the use of treated wastewater for watering green spaces (32.58 million dirhams).
The Council members also studied projects programmed in partnership with the Agency for the Promotion and Economic and Social Development of the Southern Provinces of the Kingdom and other partners, within the framework of implementing the fourth phase of the urban rehabilitation program for the province, for which a financial envelope estimated at 176.30 million dirhams was allocated.
On another note, the Council members approved the closing of the provincial budget and the programming of the actual budget surplus for the 2024 fiscal year, which amounted to more than 1.95 million dirhams.
The Council members decided to submit two petitions to the Ministry of the Interior (General Directorate of Local Authorities), the first for an increase in the fixed annual share of the Value Added Tax (VAT) product for the provincial budget, and the second concerning the allocation of 8.02 million dirhams to the provincial budget for the 2025 fiscal year (852,880 dirhams in the first part of the budget and 7,175,997 dirhams in the second part) to pay the annual installments of the loan granted to the Council by the Communal Equipment Fund.
