The plastic waste which would have been exported to Morocco from Spain, was invited to Parliament. But beyond the great controversy that this rubbish aroused, they especially pushed the parliamentary group of the PPS (Party of Progress and Socialism) in the House of Representatives to ask Leila Benali, Minister of Energy Transition and Sustainable development, accountability or at least some clarification.
Has plastic waste been imported into Morocco or not from Spain? This is the Shakespearian question that torments the minds of opposition MPs and to which the Minister is “asked” to answer clearly. Indeed, the Spanish Civil Guard (Guardia Civil) recently launched investigations concerning eight people for the alleged illegal trafficking of more than 5,700 tonnes of plastic waste. This led to the inspection of 141 companies in several regions of Spain that manage this type of waste. The latter would have been exported to certain countries including Morocco.
That said, the opposition members and at their head Ahmad El Abadimember of the parliamentary group of PPP insisted that the Minister of Energy Transition and Sustainable Development, Leila Benali, specify the measures taken by the government to prevent any import of plastic waste into Morocco.
Ahmed El Abbadi, who submitted the question to the latter, confirmed in a statement to MoroccoLatestNews that ” it is in the order of things to question what has been published by the Spanish media on the smuggling of plastic waste and its transfer to a number of countries including Morocco “.
The member of the parliamentary group of PPP has went on to say, ” we do not accuse anyone, however, the published data must be formally investigated and provided to us “, adding that” Europe has a solid arsenal in the field of environmental protection and a strong civil society “.
Thus, it is natural for the malicious to turn to the countries of the South and poor to get rid of their waste. El Abbadi said that Morocco has made significant progress in protecting the environment, through several measures, the latest being the ban on plastic bags. From then on, he sounded the alarm bell on behalf of his people, ” we warn the government faced with the presence of networks which, through various traffics (people, weapons, nuclear waste, plastics, etc.) are harming the Kingdom by taking it for trash “.
Also, in the context of these media reports concerning a network active in the smuggling of plastic waste to Morocco, it would be quite natural that the supervisory sector should investigate the case and inform the public. ‘public opinion. Indeed, in the question submitted by the members of the opposition to the House of Representatives, it is said that ” Some national and international media have reported that relevant Spanish authorities are investigating people accused of smuggling thousands of tons of plastic waste to Morocco and other countries. “.
Morocco, it is still said has made significant progress in recent years in approving legislative and regulatory measures to protect the environment and to monitor, control and punish environmental crime, including the illegal and unlicensed storage and trade of waste under all their forms and types. It should be borne in mind that certain related practices go beyond simple damage to the environment to sometimes take the form of organized crime. “.
It is therefore obvious, quite simply, that El Abbadi questioned the Minister of Energy Transition and Sustainable Development on the validity of the facts circulating concerning the smuggling of plastic waste to Morocco and the measures taken to protect the country. any influx of waste from abroad, in all its forms. He also asked to take adequate measures to strengthen the environmental control system to deter and reduce environmental violations and crimes of all kinds.