Casablanca's Demolitions Threaten to Collapse a Significant Portion of Morocco's Marble Industry

In Lissasfa and other sectors of the Casablanca region, marble units authorized for over twenty years are being caught up in the urban reconfiguration of the metropolis.

Without an immediate relocation solution, the demolitions initiated by the authorities expose the affected companies to a brutal disruption of activity, with public markets to be honored, suppliers to be paid, and several hundred jobs on hold.

Marble workers now fear that a development operation will turn into an industrial crisis.

A dozen specialized marble companies in the Casablanca region have recently been the subject of a series of demolition operations.

These demolitions are part of the mega-construction project opened by the authorities for the urban reconfiguration of the economic capital.

Decisions on demolition and withdrawal of authorizations, taken by the municipal authorities, have created a situation of uncertainty for the remaining companies, which are waiting to know their fate in the coming weeks.

Located in the Lissasfa sector on historically dedicated axes, these companies do not have, to date, any viable alternative for relocating their activity in the short term.

For professionals in the sector, without a relocation solution, this situation inevitably precipitates these companies towards bankruptcy.

They are faced with significant financial commitments to their suppliers and clients, not to mention the major social impact on several hundred employees.

Questioned by our services, Mbarek El Baraka, director of the ASCALE association of professionals and entrepreneurs of marble, granite, and porcelain in Morocco, which brings together over 140 companies, reviews this crisis that hits the marble workers of Casablanca.

"As an association, we have taken the responsibility of guiding professionals in priority and relaying their demands to the authorities and competent instances.

However, the problem we are facing today is of great scope.

Several professionals are having their authorizations withdrawn and their units are being destroyed," declares Mbarek El Baraka.

Our interlocutor insists on a crucial point: it is not about informal units. "Those who are suffering these demolitions are fully-fledged companies, in order, with all their documents and municipal operating authorization.

From A to Z, they pay their taxes and charges, and generate a significant turnover," he specifies.

The problem is essentially urban planning.

It lies in the fact that the current urban vocation of the area is not compatible with the activity of these units.

The ongoing urban renovation aims to treat non-conforming uses, in order to make the urban space more organized, more functional, and better adapted to the new needs of the city.

Authorized to settle in these areas over twenty years ago, these marble units are now without a relocation solution.

Consequently, without an alternative, the companies that choose to continue their activity will have no other choice but to seek industrial land that has become both rare and expensive, or to re-establish themselves in another area where their activity is not authorized.

A solution that, in reality, would only postpone the problem without solving it.

To date, no concrete alternative is proposed to them.

The professionals, gathered within the association, do not claim any favor, but simply a designated area allowing them to continue their activity in a lawful manner.

Without support, relocation to industrial quarters remains hardly conceivable, given the current prices of industrial land in Casablanca and the need to have at least 5,000 square meters to be able to operate.