King Mohammed calls for rational policy to fight drought

Opening Thursday the National Promotion and Planning Council, King Mohammed VI called for a rational policy to deal with recurrent drought hitting the kingdom and urged government for substitute strategies to methods used so far.

Morocco is facing a second consecutive dry season that risks to make growth slump to alarming rates. To curb drought effects, the government devised a $655 million program to fund job-generating projects in rural areas, finance water drilling and livestock preservation.

King Mohammed VI insisted the new policy should consolidate the productive tissue and diversify income sources in the countryside to shield rural population from adverse effects of climatic fluctuations.

The king also stressed the need to preserve water resources through a rational management.

Official figures show water supplies reached in 2000 around 2.7 billion cubic meters, 70% of which is stored in dams. The general deficit compared to last year exceeds 70%.

The National Promotion and Planning Council, set up in 1957, is an advisory body to the king. It works on issues related to national promotion, economic and social development planning.

This year's session is devoted to the 2000-2004 economic and development plan.