Tangier: when a new city project turns into a fiasco

While a billion dirhams were spent on Chrafat, one of the four new towns in the Tangier metropolitan area, supposed to accommodate some 150,000 inhabitants, the objectives are far from being achieved. Launched in 2009, this project is dying.

Only 36 residents are settled in the new town of Chrafat instead of 150,000, or 0.3% of the initially set objective. The project is stalling even though it has already covered more than 1 billion dirhams out of 2.8 billion dirhams (the overall budget). The city, planned on 1,300 hectares, was nevertheless supposed to serve as a model of urban harmony, ecology and respect for the environment, reports Al-Akhbar. The causes? We note a lack of planning, a lack of involvement of municipalities, disputes over the land base, etc.