Casablanca More than 3,500 building facades to be renovated

The facade renovation operation, started last January in Casablanca, is beginning to bear fruit. To date, more than 3,500 building facades have been painted, mainly on the main thoroughfares (Bd Zerktouni, Bd d’ Anfa, etc.) . It is the municipal administrative police (PAC) that leads operations on the ground. Its first assessment reports more than 10,000 formal notices drawn up and more than 6,500 sent to trustees and building owners. In fact, the procedure followed is as follows: after drawing up a report, the PAC first sends the owner a letter inviting them to repaint the building in question. Beyond a period of 3 months, the latter will receive a second registered letter reminding them of the obligation to repaint their property. After a fortnight, the files of the offenders will be transferred to the municipal services in order to carry out the work at the owner’s expense. In other words: the trustees of buildings concerned by this operation have a period of 4 months to comply. “We first target the main arteries, then the alleys and later the whole territory of the municipality”, indicates a well-informed source.
If the owner or the trustee does not comply, it is the municipality that bears the costs of the restoration and obliges the owner to pay the costs to the Treasury. “ This sum is added to the taxes owed by the taxpayer”, it is explained. It is in fact the activation of the municipal decree 
No 2014/2, stipulating that the facades of residential buildings as well as commercial premises must be painted in white, windows and garages in gray or light brown. As for the frequency of painting buildings, it is fixed at 5 years. Admittedly, Nabila Rmili relaunched this project from the start of her mandate, but the pace will have to be accelerated to make up for lost time. The human resources are now available thanks to the commissioning of the CAP. It now has 87 agents, 17 supervisors, 5 controllers, not to mention 64 vehicles and 87 tablets. As a reminder, an ambitious program to enhance the city center has been launched by the local development company SDL Casa-Patrimoine (see edition of July 6, 2022). The program includes, in addition to the renovation of old facades, the harmonization of commercial storefronts and the establishment of tourist circuits to highlight and promote the heritage potential of the city of Casablanca. This operation will concern a central area over an area of 100 hectares in the city center, with 801 buildings of historical value. As for the duration of implementation, it extends over 3 years. 
Aziza EL AFFAS