In Morocco, six months after the earthquake which struck the region of El Haouz and the surroundings of Marrakech, the situation of the victims is still precarious. The aid promised by the state has been paid to many families, but reconstruction is slow to take place, particularly in the most remote areas.
1 min
With our correspondent in Rabat, Victor Mauriat
Of the 60,000 households hit by the earthquake on the night of September 8 to 9, 2023, the Moroccan government assured at the end of January that it had launched monthly compensation for more than 57,000 of them. Amounting 2,500 dirhams, approximately 230 euros, this aid represents less than a Moroccan minimum wage. At the same time, 44,000 households received exceptional aid of 20,000 dirhams, or a little less than 2,000 euros, a sum supposed to be dedicated to the reconstruction of collapsed houses.
A winter in makeshift camps
However, in many villages around Marrakech and in the High Atlas Mountains, residents are still affected, and are sleeping in makeshift shelters. Tents or prefabs provided by the State or associations, tens of thousands of people spent the winter in the cold and humidity.
According to testimonies from Amizmiz, a few kilometers from the epicenter, water from the mountains flows between the tents and, in the absence of pipes, becomes stagnant wastewater causing unsanitary conditions and illness. A little further away in Talat N’Yacoub, residents have expressed their discontent several times and asked for reconstruction to be accelerated.
Read alsoMorocco: near the epicenter of the earthquake, devastated villages and desolate landscapes