2023-09-16 20:31:26
The death toll from the earthquake that hit Morocco and destroyed the town of Al Haouz, in the Atlas Mountains, reaches almost 3,000, in addition to more than 5,000 injured. The city of Marrakech was also affected, but to a lesser extent, with 18 deaths and many houses destroyed, mainly in the medina, the historic part of the city. In Mellah, an old Jewish neighborhood that has many traditional buildings, dozens of families are homeless and continue to sleep on the street.
Published on: 16/09/2023 – 20:31
2 min
David Baché, RFI special envoy to Morocco
The residents of the Mellah neighborhood sleep in the middle of a large square, surrounded by beautiful restaurants and crossed daily by thousands of people.
Bouchra and Rachida can no longer return home. The building where they lived, badly damaged, threatened to collapse. Bouchra is in the square with her husband and children. Rachida, very old, is alone. “We’ve been here for a week, our things, at home,” she says.
The municipality opened a camp at the 20 de Agosto stadium and, even so, residents prefer to stay in the square. “We want to stay close by because we have all our things at home, the refrigerator, everything. We can’t run away,” said one of them. “I slept here on the floor. No, not at the stadium. Here, close to home, there are many thieves”, says another.
Reconstruction plan
Some local residents bring food and water to those who are homeless. Others, like Fouad, do not hide their discontent at seeing them remain on the street, although there are shelter solutions.
“I see this in a very negative way. They are happy with the things we give them, then they resell them in stores, water and everything else. That’s the only reason they don’t want to leave,” she states.
“There is also the problem that they are afraid that, if they leave and their homes are rebuilt, the owners will not rehouse them. But the State has promised that they will,” he insists.
Moroccan authorities are already working on a plan to rebuild destroyed homes. But obviously this will take time.
The issue of the country’s economic future is a concern. The drop in the number of tourists in Marrakech is starting to take its toll.
According to Marrakech tourist guides, interviewed by the FranceInfo website, some traditional hotels in the historic center have lost up to 70% of their reservations since the earthquake. Typically, more than two million people visit Marrakech every year.
#residents #traditional #Marrakesh #neighborhood #remain #homeless