As drought persists, northern locals warn cannabis farmers continue to 'hijack' public water ressources

As Morocco navigates a severe drought crisis, blame is going around in an attempt to reason affected communities’ way out of this dire and pressing crisis.

Hespress has received complaints from citizens in Al Hoceima and Chefchaouen provinces about restricted access to water, where sources claim “water theft” in cannabis-growing areas is exacerbating a difficult water scarcity reality.

Abdellah El Jout, a member of the Coordination of Historic Kif Areas in Al Hoceima and Chefchaouen, said: “In Cannabis growing areas, especially Al Hoceima and Chaouen, there is a very big issue where the overwhelming majority of natural water sources have been controlled in recent years by some influential people, sometimes drug traffickers, which is very dangerous and a clear challenge to communal life.”

El Jout added in a statement to Hespress: “When we hear the statements of officials in Rabat on the subject of prioritizing the fight against water loss and follow the precise royal directives in this field, we are amazed at our situation, because we see the depletion of water in our regions, and we ask ourselves: Are we in the same country and subject to the same laws? Why is there such a difference in the application of the law?”

“Yes, the trend in Rabat is to conserve water, but in our regions nothing has changed; the theft of water continues to this day, as does the exploitation of natural resources by powerful people.”

Jout called on “national public authorities to intervene urgently, because as soon as the rains fall, hoses reappear to transfer water to personal dams, in flagrant violation of the law, an assault on the rights of locals and against the directives of the state and the instructions of the king.”

“We no longer accept this situation and denounce the obvious cover-up and expect a radical change this year.”

“Water used to be distributed according to a turn system. Today, the distribution is done according to the power of people and the custom and the law have disappeared, and this is very dangerous. We ask authorities to support us to recognize the customary systems again, in accordance with historical judicial documents.”

Nabila Mounib, a parliamentarian from the United Socialist Party had previously sent a written question to the Minister of Interior about the “denial of water to residents of Cannabis growing areas.”

Mounib said in her question: “We have received complaints from residents of the cannabis-growing areas in Al Hoceima and Chaoun regions complaining about the scarcity of water, due to the seizure of water sources by influential people and some drug traffickers. These influential people dig deep wells along the natural water sources without any right or license and drag water by hoses to their estates and farms, which led to the drying up of these sources, thus depriving citizens, their livestock and local agriculture of water.”

“Based on these complaints, we ask you, Mr. Minister, what measures your ministry will take to respond to the complaints of citizens demanding intervention to alleviate the suffering of being deprived of the right to water?”, asks the MP.