فاس نيوز ميديا جريدة الكترونية جهوية تعنى بشؤون و أخبار جهة فاس مكناس – متجددة على مدار الساعة
Mohamed Samir El Khamlichi, Governor of Moulay Yacoub Province, affirmed that providing safe drinking water to all residents is a serious challenge and a top priority within the province’s development agenda. This priority is pursued through continuous efforts to strengthen basic, economic, and social infrastructure and improve developmental indicators as part of a balanced spatial development approach.
This statement was made during an expanded meeting held on Wednesday, June 18, 2025, at the provincial governorate headquarters. The meeting was attended by the province’s parliamentary deputies, heads of local municipalities, the General Director of the Regional Multi-Service Company of Fes-Meknes, the Regional Director of the National Office for Electricity and Drinking Water – Water Sector, and local authorities. The agenda focused on the current situation and future prospects of the drinking water sector in the province.
At the opening of the meeting, the governor welcomed Mr. Mohamed Chaoui, recently appointed as General Director of the Regional Multi-Service Company, congratulating him on the trust placed in him and praising his distinguished career marked by professionalism and dedication. He expressed the readiness of all parties to support him in achieving the set goals.
The governor also highlighted the royal attention given by His Majesty King Mohammed VI to the drinking water sector, emphasizing its vital importance for citizens’ daily lives. He recalled the significant emphasis placed on water stress in the King’s message to participants of the Second National Conference on Advanced Regionalization held in Tangier in December 2024.
During the meeting, the Regional Director and the Provincial Director of the National Office for Electricity and Drinking Water presented a detailed overview of the challenges limiting the regular and continuous water supply, especially amid the current increased demand. Key challenges include:
- Severe impact on groundwater reserves due to climate fluctuations and consecutive drought years.
- Insufficient local water resources, with the province relying on external sources from Taounate and Meknes.
- Deterioration of water facilities and distribution networks extending over 1600 km, frequently suffering malfunctions due to the province’s geological nature characterized by soil slippage and instability.
- Failure of several associations to fulfill their commitments under tripartite partnership agreements, notably in the Ain Chkef municipality.
- Difficulty supplying drinking water to villages and settlements located at higher elevations due to weak or interrupted flow during peak hours.
- Delay in implementing several projects with completed technical studies, pending allocation of necessary financial resources.
The meeting also provided an opportunity for parliamentary deputies and municipal leaders to voice their concerns and highlight long-standing difficulties faced by residents, which have often led to social unrest caused by repeated water outages, low flow rates, and frequent network breakdowns. They called for an urgent action plan to address the current critical situation in some municipalities, alongside a future strategic plan aimed at comprehensive reform of all existing challenges.
The General Director of the Regional Multi-Service Company of Fes-Meknes expressed strong responsiveness to the issues raised regarding the general water supply situation in the province. He pledged to conduct a precise diagnostic study to identify real priorities and use it as a basis to program structural and sustainable solutions for rehabilitating the water system across all provincial municipalities. The results of this study will be presented in a forthcoming similar meeting in the near future.
