Morocco's King Orders Orderly MINURSO Withdrawal: Southern Provinces Development Continues, Water Plan Targets 27 Billion Cubic Metres
King Mohammed VI of Morocco chaired a working session at the Royal Palace in Rabat on November 4 to plan the steps following the end of the United Nations mission in Western Sahara, ordering an orderly liquidation and withdrawal of the mission. In the same week, a new water security strategy set targets of 27 billion cubic metres of national dam storage and 1.8 billion cubic metres of annual desalination capacity by 2031.
A statement by the Royal Office said the session followed up on the next step after the UN Security Council's October 30 decision not to renew the mission's mandate. Attending were Head of Government Fatima Ezzahra El Mansouri, Royal Adviser Fouad Ali El Himma, Minister of the Interior Abdelouafi Laftit, and Lieutenant General Mohammed Berrid, Inspector General of the Royal Armed Forces. The King underscored the priorities set out on October 30: strict respect for territorial integrity, national security and the tranquillity of citizens, particularly the population of the Southern Provinces.
The statement gave two concrete instructions. Departments are to implement those priorities firmly and vigilantly within their own remits, ensuring that the development project for the Southern Provinces and its major structuring projects continue. And the Office for Coordination with MINURSO, under the Ministry of the Interior, is to coordinate and support the mission's liquidation and withdrawal so the operation runs smoothly and in an orderly manner, in cooperation with the United Nations. Morocco's commitment to the ceasefire, the statement added, is a voluntary commitment that will not change with the end of the mandate.
On the livelihood track, Equipment, Water and Forests Minister Nizar Baraka told the House of Representatives on November 2 that 17 major dams are under construction with combined storage of about 5.4 billion cubic metres, alongside six medium dams under construction and 12 new dams launched, all aimed at lifting total storage to 27 billion cubic metres by 2031. The desalination target of 1.8 billion cubic metres a year would cover about 60 percent of drinking water needs, in response to drought and uneven rainfall.
Sovereignty and security planning on one side, and water, the most everyday of livelihood accounts, on the other: Morocco's two official documents this week put the country's order of priorities in plain view.
(Source: Royal Office of Morocco)
Source: Royal Office of Morocco
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：摩洛哥王宫，位于拉巴特。照片：Jorge Láscar，CC BY 2.0，经维基共享资源。 / Photo: The Royal Palace in Rabat, Morocco. Photo by Jorge Láscar, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
