It took several long hours for the inhabitants of the oasis of Aït Ouirane (Tata) to overcome the fires which broke out in the palm groves from which they derive most of their income. First, they dealt with the disasters with very limited resources, before Tata civil protection intervened to extinguish the numerous fires.
It is the high temperatures, recorded over the last two days in this locality, which seem to be at the origin of the fires in this very vast palm grove, according to the daily Al Akhbar in its edition of Friday May 10, unless the ongoing investigation determines other causes.
Residents of the region are concerned about the local oases in which repetitive fires break out every year, requiring the implementation of effective means to counter this scourge.
Al Akhbar explains that the Souss-Massa Regional Council became aware of this problem, by considering, during its ordinary session last October, to mobilize an envelope of 112 million dirhams. The Regional Council decided to immediately make 30 million available while waiting for the other contributors concerned to pay their shares within the framework of a partnership agreement aimed at protecting oases against fires and supporting economic activities in rural areas.
These new fires also bring to the table the issue of compensation for small local farmers. The number of fires recorded over the last eight seasons exceeds that of the fires experienced in the region during the previous 40 years, specifies Al Akhbar.
Worse, the fires of recent years have consumed no less than 14,000 palm trees, not to mention thousands of hectares of cultivated land, depriving local farmers of the main sources of income they derive from the sale of dates and other agricultural products from the terroir.
