The Minister confirmed that the local authorities, as soon as they learned of these facts, contacted the contractor in question and urged him to begin the reconstruction work in accordance with the technical controls and to respect the contracts concluded with the beneficiaries or to return the sums of money he received from them. They also called on the victims to file individual complaints with the Public Prosecution to activate judicial follow-up regarding the matter. Breach of trust and completion of construction works without respecting technical controls.
The contractor in question, and according to what Laftit explained in his answer to a written question from the representative group for Justice and Development, about the exposure of those affected by the Al Haouz earthquake to fraud by a contractor who gave them a leader and an authority, was arrested by the Royal Gendarmerie, Ait Melloul.
The government official pointed out that this incident is not the only one. Rather, another contractor residing in the Tassa Yirkan roundabout in the Wabarkane community breached the contract concluded between him and the beneficiaries from the Arab roundabout in the Asni community, and he is currently the subject of a research memorandum.
In the same context, the Minister confirms that a third contractor residing in Beni Mellal was monitored, and he, in turn, did not respect the contracts concluded with 09 beneficiaries from the Douars of Tanzirt, Mrigga Haute, and Al-Azib, affiliated with the commune, leadership, and Berkane, noting that “the local authority tried to contact him with the intention of urging him to respect the terms of the contracts.” She called on victims to submit individual complaints to the Public Prosecution.
Regarding the recommendation of the first contractor by the commander of the Yerkan command and the agents of the authority, Laftit confirmed that “this leader was not mentioned in the complaints submitted by the residents of Taghazout roundabout, while the authority’s agents were referred to in them, as they were heard in an official report, and they declared that they did not They give praise to the aforementioned contractor, but rather their role is limited to facilitating the contractors’ work by providing them with the necessary data and keeping up with the progress of the works within the framework of accelerating the pace of the reconstruction process.”
On the other hand, the Minister stressed that the regional authority in Al Haouz “takes strict disciplinary measures against any authority agent proven to be involved in blackmailing citizens, as is the case with a village lieutenant colonel in Douar Mrigha, Jama’a and Berkane, against whom a dismissal decision was issued on December 2, 2024, for his involvement in the claim.” With sums of money from some citizens affected by the earthquake, in exchange for promises to intervene with the central authorities to ensure that they benefit from the support allocated to them.
The Minister of the Interior pointed out that the local authorities “continuously follow this file, in order to preserve the rights of citizens and avoid anything that might slow down the pace of reconstruction, while taking more stringent disciplinary measures against anyone proven responsible for manipulation or extortion.”
It is noteworthy that the parliamentary representative for the Justice and Development Parliamentary Group, Aisha Al-Kout, had alerted the Minister of the Interior, Abdel-Wafi Laftit, that a number of those affected by the Al-Haouz earthquake had been subjected to a scam by a contractor who deluded them that he would undertake the construction of their homes, but he disappeared after receiving important sums of money.
The parliamentarian explained that the affected people had declared that they had handed over sums of money to the concerned person, which was the first batch of financial support they had received in the context of rebuilding their collapsed homes, only to discover that he had also defrauded other affected people from the Asni and Three Nyaqoub groups.
Edited by Fatima Al-Zahra Al-Awni
On 01/02/2025 at 20:30
