This meeting, chaired by the Provincial Governor, Badr Bousif, and attended by a number of elected officials, territorial officials, heads of internal departments, and the concerned decentralized and security services, was an opportunity to discuss the proactive measures that would mitigate the repercussions of bad weather and the cold wave on the province's population during the 2024-2025 winter season.
The Provincial Governor emphasized, in a speech on the occasion, the importance of this meeting, which falls within the framework of implementing the High Instructions of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, aimed at giving special importance to the population of mountainous areas during this period known for the cold wave and snowfall and rain, as well as activating the provincial plan to address its effects.
Mr. Bousif explained that the provincial action plan focuses on prior preparation through the mobilization of the necessary human resources and logistical means, whether belonging to the public or private sector, and updating and evaluating the socio-economic database of the areas affected by the cold wave.
He added that this concerns 1,072 families comprising 5,278 individuals distributed across 13 Douars in the rural communes; Tancherfi (6 Douars), El Aateuf (3 Douars), Sidi Ali Belkacem (2 Douars), Ouled M'hamed (one Douar), and Sidi Lahcen (one Douar).
The Provincial Governor stressed the continuation of organizing mobile medical campaigns, which reached 8 campaigns in the Tancherfi commune, and one campaign in the Sidi Ali Belkacem commune, with a second campaign scheduled in the same commune today, Tuesday, in addition to the daily update of the census of homeless people, where 12 people were sheltered in the city of Laayoune Sidi Mellouk, and 6 people in the city of Taourirt.
The measures also include securing intervention to rescue the population in critical and emergency situations such as pregnant women, by opening roads and paths with the necessary speed in case of traffic interruption, and counting the potential needs for food supplies for the Douars affected by the cold wave, and mobilizing snow removal equipment and machinery, and means of communication to ensure the speed and effectiveness of interventions.
For their part, the heads of the decentralized services reviewed, during this meeting, the various measures and programs that have been launched in this framework, in cooperation and coordination with the various stakeholders in the province.
The Provincial Director of the Ministry of Equipment, Transport and Logistics in Taourirt province, Bakkal Issam, explained in a statement to the Maghreb Arabe Presse (MAP) agency that the province witnessed significant snowfall reaching 15 centimeters at times; which caused traffic interruption on the national road section No. 19 connecting Taourirt and Bouarfa, especially the road section connecting the communes of El Aateuf, Debdou, and Ouled M'hamed.
He highlighted that the Ministry of Equipment worked in this framework, through its machinery, to open this road in record time, as the duration of the interruption did not exceed 3 hours, noting that all its capabilities of human resources and logistical equipment were mobilized to ensure the continuity and fluidity of traffic during this period.
For his part, the Acting Provincial Delegate of the Ministry of Health and Social Protection in Taourirt, Abdelaziz El Boutibi, confirmed that the Ministry of Health worked to mobilize all efforts to provide and improve health services for the benefit of the population of the communes exposed to the cold wave and frost, through organizing medical campaigns and providing the necessary medicines.
