Project Bouregreg moves forward to change Rabat’s image

29/05/2007

Through an ambitious development plan for the Bouregreg valley, Morocco is attempting to revitalise its capital city.

By Sarah Touahri for Magharebia in Rabat – 29/05/2007

[Sarah Touahri] Construction is underway at the Bouregreg valley building site

The development of the Bouregreg valley is expected to transform the face of Rabat by 2010. Construction began a year and a half ago and is making good progress. Rabat’s inhabitants impatiently await the project's completion which aims to place the capital among the world’s great international cities. According to local authorities, the goal is to make the city welcoming and attractive to tourists. Everyday life will improve through the creation of a tramway and a port, development of the mouth of the river, the construction of a tunnel, the creation of parks, pollution cleanup in the river and along the Atlantic coast, and environmental protection.

Rabat district governor Abdelkebir Berkia stated that this large-scale project aims to modernise the city and its outskirts, to alleviate the housing deficit and create a platform to encourage investment. "The project is likely to reinforce basic infrastructure and drive the productive sectors to accompany the capital’s urban growth," he emphasized.

Essakel Mghari, managing director of the Bouregreg Valley Development Agency, explained that preliminary construction of tramway platforms, an important component of the project, has officially begun. "[With] 2.5 billion dirhams in financing, the tramway will be an appropriate response to the public transportation problem with its system of speed, comfort and environmental efficiency. The tramway must pass through the points where the need is most felt. This means of transport is not a luxury; it’s a necessity. The risks that it could cause to the city walls if it does not pass through those places must be taken into account", he said.

Comprised of six phases, the development plan intends to make the Bouregreg valley a meeting place for activity and leisure between the two river banks. The project also makes provisions for an Atlantic port at the foot of the Oudayas kasbah, a twelfth-century fortress, as well as a marina a short distance from the estuary, thus completing the capital’s Atlantic and fluvial developments. The first part includes hydraulic and port development and new urban areas, to be constructed in balance with the site’s historical monuments. This phase will lay out an area replete with art, jobs, gardens, leisure areas and a business district on the Sale bank.

To avert environmental crises, the development of the Bouregreg valley has factored in important infrastructural and environmental considerations, including liquid and solid cleanup capabilities and the closing of dumps in Rabat and Sale.

According to the Interior Minister Chakib ben Moussa, the site represents a unique chance for the local community in the field of infrastructure development, facilities and urbanisation. The minister also said that in addition to ensuring steady and significant revenue, the development is expected to reinforce Rabat's financial autonomy and stimulate large-scale investments.