The Minister Delegate in charge of Relations with Parliament, government spokesperson, Mustapha Baïtas, indicated that the National Plan to mitigate the effects of the cold wave for the current season targets a population of approximately 795,727 people, i.e. 150,460 families from 1,816 douars.
The areas of intervention relate to support for health services for the benefit of the population of the targeted mountain regions, through the programming of 3,179 mobile medical units and 164 medical caravans, in addition to the mobilization of 3,311 doctors and medical officers and 863 ambulances, indicated Baïtas in a response to an oral question, read on behalf of the Minister of the Interior, Abdelouafi Laftit, during the session devoted to oral questions.
The Plan also aims to develop 760 temporary platforms to ensure the landing of helicopters belonging to the Royal Gendarmerie or the Ministry of Health and Social Protection in order to be able to intervene to transfer certain urgent cases, open up the targeted douars, while by ensuring travel along the main roads leading there, which are likely to be cut off due to snowfall.
In this sense, continued the Minister, all the necessary mechanisms and human resources have been deployed in order to intervene immediately if the situation on the ground requires it, and to follow up on the cases of pregnant women, whose number rises to 5,487 women, in addition to taking care of homeless people in these areas by housing them in social welfare establishments.
As part of the National Plan for this winter, in partnership and coordination with the High Commission for Water and Forests and the Fight against Desertification and the Ministries of National Education and Health, Baïtas added that the wood heating was also provided at the same time, with the aim of distributing nearly 8,200 ovens and making 6,444 tons of subsidized firewood available to the population concerned, educational establishments, health centers and maternity wards located in the areas targeted by the Plan, without however overshadowing the right of the population of these areas to benefit from timber from nearby forest lands, in accordance with the legal provisions governing this area.
The minister also emphasized the total and permanent mobilization of all departments of the Ministry of the Interior in order to protect citizens and ensure their safety and security against all threats, whether of natural or human origin, through proactive action and effective interventions on the ground, within the framework of coordination with all the stakeholders and actors concerned.