Morocco earmarks $350 million to fight drought effects
Morocco, Politics, 6/26/1999

Morocco has earmarked US $350 million (3.5 billion DH) to fight drought effects, Moroccan Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Habib El Malki, announced on Friday.

The anti-drought effects program, to run in summer and autumn 1999, consists of supplying drinking water to regions affected by water shortages, safeguarding and protecting the livestock, handling the debts of farmers and carrying out job-generating projects in rural areas.

While cereal output was the sector that suffered most from drought, livestock and spring cultures were not much affected.

The distribution of animal feed, the drilling of 250 wells and the use of 200 trucks to supply drinking water will alleviate the effects of drought, said the minister.

The program was presented at a meeting which was also attended by Finance and Economy Minister Fathallah Oualalou and Equipment Minister Bouamour Taghouane.

According to the equipment minister, water reserves in large dams will secure the supply of drinking water supply to all cities, and the budget earmarked for providing drinking water to rural areas was increased by 150% in the 1999/2000 budget.

He added that 280 villages, because they are far from water pipes or do not have underground water supplies, will suffer from a drinking water shortage and announced that water will be supplied through containers pending a final solution.

Previous Stories:
  Morocco's 1999 GDP to grow by 0.2%   (6/25/1999)
  Moroccan remote sensing experts meet NASA peers in Rabat   (6/22/1999)
  Morocco allocates around $ 1 billion for water projects in rural zones   (6/18/1999)

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