Morocco offers construction aid to 95% of quake-hit households

The Moroccan government said it offered construction aid to 95% of the households whose homes were completely or partly destroyed in the violent earthquake that ravaged villages in the High Atlas Mountains in September 2023.

So far, 56,000 families received financial aid to rebuild their houses for a total cost of 1.4 billion dirhams ($140 mln), while 53,000 households already received construction permits, head of the Moroccan government Aziz Akhannouch told MPs.

Morocco has pledged to spend $12 billion in a quake relief program that includes reconstruction aid, upgrade of infrastructure, and spurring the local economy.

Akhannouch was speaking to MPs on the government’s housing policy, citing the newly offered aid to help citizens acquire new apartments.

The program benefited 17,000 applicants for a total cost of 6.3 billion dirhams ($630 million), he said.

On the government’s effort to erase shanty towns, Akhannouch said 61 cities have been freed of slums as part of the “cities without shanty towns” program.

The program helped 347,000 families relocate to decent homes for a total cost so far of 45.7 billion dirhams ($4.57 bln), he said.

The government also spent 7.9 billion dirhams to upgrade historic centers, known as Medinas, in 21 cities, he said.