MOROCCO: abandonment of the Tangier desalination project in favor of a water highway
While the conditions for the launch of the Tangier water desalination project were already in place, the construction contract signed in February 2023 with the Israeli company Mekorot was canceled against all expectations. Instead, the Moroccan government plans to build a water highway in this northern Moroccan city.
The news was announced on Tuesday, September 26, 2023. The Tangier seawater desalination station, although eagerly awaited by the inhabitants of this city in northern Morocco, will not come out of the ground anytime soon. Its construction contract signed in February 2023 with the Israeli company Mekorot is canceled.
In the columns of the Al Akhbar newspaper , the reason for abandoning the hydraulic project is clearly put forward. “The construction of the desalination plant is currently impossible due to the lack of land ” . The plant was intended to supply water to the Tangier-Tetouan-Al Hoceima region, which is facing persistent water stress.
A water highway, the alternative to desalination in Tangier
The decision to cancel the Tangier water desalination project will also cause economic damage with the cessation of certain works, in particular the study on the technical and environmental evaluation of the plant started this year at a cost of 22 million dirhams (around 2.1 million euros).
Instead of a seawater desalination station which requires a strategic site, the Moroccan government will build a water highway to meet the needs of the populations of Tangier-Tetouan-Al Hoceima. According to the Moroccan daily Al Akhbar , the highway will pass through a canal linking Oued El Makhazine to Ketama, administratively under Souk Larbaâ, as well as Bni Garfet in Larache, a province in the Tangier-Tétouan-Al Hoceima region.
Additional details relating to the Tangier water highway project will be given gradually according to the Moroccan authorities. Will this highway resemble the one inaugurated last August to supply the cities of Rabat and Casablanca with water? Nothing is less sure.
