Morocco: WB gives $133m to manage waste

  1. Posted on Wednesday 20 May 2009 - 14:15
    Addou
    Image of Addou
    Merieme Addou, AfricaNews reporter in Rabat, Morocco
    The World Bank has granted Morocco a loan of $132.7 million to manage solid waste in the country's localities. The funding will back solid waste strategic planning and enhance the performance of the country's municipal solid waste sector.
    Morocco map
    The program aims to support the Moroccan vision for governance, creating opportunity for the private sector and at the same time sustainable management of natural resources.

    The loan is also designed to improve transparency, competitiveness, and accountability for sustainable and cost-effective private sector participation. The plan also includes a strong public communication program.

    In 2006, Morocco enacted its first law on solid waste management establishing the principles that will govern the management of the sector.

    The new Moroccan policy highlights social and environmental aspects as key features of the solid waste sector reform and aims to support solid waste strategic planning and improve the economic, environment and social performances of the municipal solid waste sector.

    Morocco is already facing a shortage of natural resources; water in particular. Poor solid waste management threatens to contaminate remaining supplies of fresh drinking water, pollute surrounding areas of land, and contribute to the spread of disease—all of which infringe on development.

    The World Bank estimates that the impact of poor solid waste management on the environment is 0.5 percent of the country’s gross domestic product—one of the highest in the Middle East and Africa. The population is growing at 2.85 percent and per capita consumption is also increasing, leading to an inevitable exacerbation of the situation if swift and effective action is not taken.

    Morocco will be investing some EUR 3.7 billion in modern waste management over the next 15 years. Illegal dumping is to disappear entirely within ten years, to be replaced with new waste disposal facilities that meet European environmental and safety standards. In two years at the latest, these will provide permanent disposal for some 40 percent of municipal waste.

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