The PJD has blamed “hidden forces” for the three-year delay in parliamentary assessments of the Green Morocco Plan, which has faced criticism for exacerbating water resource depletion through privatization efforts.
The working group tasked with evaluating the plan, initially convened in March 2022 and chaired by Rachid Talbi El Alami, Speaker of the House of Representatives, has not met since June 2022, prompting accusations of obstruction from opposition members.
They allege that these delays have been engineered by influential figures seeking to prevent the group’s progress.
On Tuesday,the Speaker of the House of Representatives announced the committee would be reinstated in the next legislative session.
The Green Morocco Plan, launched in 2008, has been praised for its efforts to modernize Morocco’s agriculture but criticized for its impact on water resources.
The plan, which heavily subsidized private drip irrigation systems, has been linked to the continued depletion of groundwater, especially in a country already facing significant water scarcity issues.
“We hope that the work of this committee will be facilitated, especially with the current situation,” Abdallah Bouanou, head of the PJD parliamentary group said.
He said “ unacceptable labyrinths” were created after the dismissal of the head of the committee of the Green Plan, Noureddine Moudiane from his seat in Parliament in 2022 for violations of health emergency regulations imposed during Covid-19 and improper campaign practices.
Bouanou has also called for a thorough investigation of the plan’s impact, especially in terms of its environmental effects and its role in escalating food prices.
With opposition parties calling for greater transparency and accountability, the resumption of the working group’s activities is seen as crucial for identifying irregularities and proposing recommendations for more sustainable agricultural practices in the future.
Mohamed Chaouki of the National Rally of Independents dismissed these accusations, attributing the delays to Moudiane loss of his parliamentary seat and defending the plan’s overall impact.
He argued that the Green Morocco Plan had already been evaluated and presented to King Mohammed VI, and that disruptions were caused by the pandemic and drought, not the plan itself.
He said that claims of improper public investment were either misleading or false, claiming the plan had positively impacted small farmers and the economy.
The Green Morocco Plan, launched in 2008, has been praised for its agricultural benefits but criticized for exacerbating water scarcity.
The plan’s emphasis on private drip irrigation, without proper water demand management, has led to continued over-extraction of groundwater, worsening the situation since the early 1980s drought., a report by the Royal Institute for Strategic Studies in 2024 said.
While the plan aimed to increase productivity, its environmental sustainability remains a concern, particularly in the face of ongoing water depletion and the rising cost of food.
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