The Moroccan ambassador in Lisbon predicts that the help offered by Portugal and other “friendly” countries after last week’s earthquake will be necessary in the medium term and will not be accepted immediately to avoid lack of coordination and rejected delays in rescue operations.
“Hours after the event (on September 8), Morocco preferred to intervene quickly with its forces, with its personal means, but also to make an exact assessment of what we wanted and the type of help we needed,” said Othmane Bahnini, in a interview with the Lusa agency.
For the Moroccan diplomat, who stressed that no country is prepared to immediately face an earthquake of the magnitude of the one that affected Morocco (between 6.8 and 7 on the Richter scale), the “rejection” of the aid provided by many countries – At first, Rabat only accepted support from Spain, the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, due to the need to know the priorities and avoid a lack of coordination.
“This does not mean that we are selective, but it is also to avoid a kind of logistical problem at the country level and, sometimes, we cannot open the borders and have an agglomeration of people in the country and find ourselves in situations that have to be managed. logistically, from the point of view of management and international intervention,” explained Bahnini, who was accompanied by his wife in Marrakech on the day of the earthquake.
“The most important thing is to save lives and intervene quickly on the ground. For this reason, we have had to progressively manage the situation with the needs of the catastrophe, which is great,” added the Moroccan diplomat, who thanked the Portuguese Government for its availability. , whose help will be necessary in the medium/long term, like that of other “friendly” countries.
According to Bahnini, the reconstruction period will allow all “friendly and brother countries” to provide support, because this will be long-term, not short-term, “and that is where true friendly relations are expressed.”
“I think there is a place for all those who have expressed good will. Morocco has not closed its doors to any country. I wanted, first of all, to try to react in a thoughtful and clear way,” he explained.
The earthquake, which occurred on the night of September 8 to 9 in the province of Al-Haouz, south of Marrakech, left 2,946 dead and 5,674 injured, according to the latest official figures published.
The priority, Bahnini stressed, is to care for the injured and rebuild the homes, as defined in the various meetings between King Mohamed VI and the Government and the entities that deal with the issue, especially with support for the most vulnerable population. affected, the one who was left homeless.
“The reconstruction project in the area has very clear objectives. We are talking about more than 50,000 homes, we are talking about financial aid for people who have lost everything. We focused the first week on trying to save lives, on trying to provide some relief those who are still alive, trying to mobilize forces at the hospital level, etc., to respond to the first needs,” Bahnini said.
In the plan drawn up with the help of Mohamed VI, he continued, the “local specificities”, “cultural habits” and, above all, the numerous orphans left by the catastrophe must also be taken into account.
“There is also the impulse of solidarity, which will continue, because there is a feeling that has been precisely that of serving everyone and caring for orphans. His Majesty (Mohamed VI) is attentive to these orphans and this is a very strong symbolic gesture” . , she added.
The earthquake, whose epicenter was recorded in the town of Ighil, 63 kilometers southwest of the city of Marrakech, was felt in Portugal and Spain.
This earthquake is the deadliest in Morocco since the one that destroyed Agadir, on the country’s western coast, on February 29, 1960, causing between 12,000 and 15,000 deaths, a third of the city’s population.
Source: TSF
