Morocco inaugurates EIB-financed Rabat-Salé tramway and Oujda wastewater treatment plant

Two urban projects financed by the European Investment Bank (EIB) in Morocco have recently been inaugurated by King Mohammed VI: the Rabat-Salé tramway and the Oujda wastewater treatment plant, according to an EIB spotlight on “these two major environmental and economic success stories”. In the pipeline since 2010, the Rabat-Salé tramway marks a step forward in the quality of urban public transport in the Moroccan capital, the EIB says. Completed with a budget of over €303 million, this project meets the daily transport requirements of 400,000 inhabitants between Rabat and its twin city Salé and is expected to transport some 180,000 passengers a day. Two lines with a total length of 20km and 31 stations are now in operation. They serve the conurbation’s key population and business hubs – the university district, hospitals, administrations, both city centres and the main bus and rail stations. They also represent the first step towards a larger tramway network expected to comprise four lines. The socioeconomic impact of the project is estimated at 4,000 direct and indirect jobs during the construction phase and 1,000 jobs during the operation phase. Further north, near the Algerian border, the city of Oujda inaugurated in June one of the largest wastewater treatment plants in Morocco. Designed for a population of some 530,000, it has a wastewater treatment capacity of 40,000 m3 a day, the equivalent of 14.6 million m3 of raw wastewater that used to be discharged each year into Oued Bounaim north of the city. Built on a 60 hectare site, the plant is energy efficient and uses no chemicals thanks to a 100%-natural aerated lagoon process. This lagoon wastewater treatment process uses the sun’s ultraviolet rays for final disinfection of the water. The plant will also help to save water through the re-use of the treated wastewater to irrigate some 1,200 hectares of farmland. (ENPI Info Centre)