The Guelmim Ouednoun Regional Council approved at its March session chaired by Mbarka Buaida last Monday a partnership agreement to build nearby playgrounds in rural and urban areas of the region.
This agreement, which brings together the Guelmim-Oued Noun Regional Council, a delegated ministry responsible for relations with Parliament, and the Ministry of National Education, Primary Education and Sports, aims to promote sports at the regional level, promote its development and encourage its practice by young people, men and women. women.
The partnership between the aforementioned parties, according to the text of the agreement seen by Hespress, aims to create 60 category (E) multifunctional sports stadiums, provided that the total area of each stadium is 1200 square meters, which includes sports facilities, a conference room, a warehouse dressing rooms for men and women, health facilities, fencing, lighting and sports equipment.
The total financial coverage of the project, according to the same document, is 90 million dirhams, of which 60 million dirhams is the contribution of the Ministry of National Education, Primary Education and Sports, and 30 million dirhams is allocated for the cost of its financial contribution to the implementation of the agreement.
The voting point on an agreement to build nearby stadiums in the Guelmim-Ouednoun area sparked fierce controversy among members of the opposition team, who felt that the financial package allocated to the project was grossly exaggerated compared to similar projects that were completed at a lower cost in several provinces .
On this issue, Ibrahim Hanana, a member of the opposition team in the Guelmim Wadnoun region, said: “Allocating a budget of 9 billion centimeters for the construction of 60 stadiums at a rate of 150 million centimeters for each stadium is a waste of money. public money; Because stadiums of this type have already been built for much less money than the organizations programmed under the agreement.
The same spokesman explained in a statement to Hespress that “the most important piece of evidence supporting the above is the agreement signed on February 13, 2018 between the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the Ministry of Youth and Sports and the Collective Equipment Fund to build 800 playgrounds. for proximity with a total budget of around 600 million dirhams, or 75 million dirhams, One million centimeters per stadium, which is half of what was included in the project for the Guelmim and Adnun district. ”
And he added: “I also refer you to a group of deals announced by several elected councils in Morocco to see the difference. For example, the Casablanca group announced a deal, which will be opened on March 21, for the construction of nine stadiums with artificial turf, with an estimated cost of 660 million centimes, or 73 million centimes per stadium.
The same elected adviser added: “Another example of the ballooning of the Guelmim Odnun stadium budget is the March 14 announcement by the Regional Directorate for Education and Training in the Souss-Massa Region of a deal to build nine funded stadiums. in the amount of 744 million santims, or 83 million santims for each stadium, in addition to the deal. 84 million centimeters for each stadium.
Ibrahim Hanana emphasized that the continuation of the above agreement “means the loss of significant sums of money without regard or control, whether in the aspect related to excessive inflation in the budget allocated to the project, or in relation to the real estate base for stadiums of this type, which should be approximately 3000 square meters. This is a condition that is not available under Article 5 of the agreement, which limits the area of the stadium to only 1200 square meters, and therefore the impossibility of loading category (E) stadiums in accordance with their recognized conditions.
Concluding his statement to Hespress, a member of the opposition group in the region of Guelmim-Vadnoun emphasized that “the need for the intervention of the relevant authorities to launch an investigation into the budget allocated to the aforementioned agreement, in order to protect public money from being lost.”
