Government spokesman: The State has Developed a plan that has Enabled the Mitigation of Flood Damage

The Minister of Vocational Training, Handicrafts and Crafts, Acting Government Spokesman, Mohamed Maelainin Ould Eyih, said that the state has developed a plan that has made it possible to mitigate the damage caused by the recent floods in the River Valley governorates, sending field teams to the affected places that included all relevant sectors equipped with all requirements, as well as administrative and military authorities in those areas.

Commenting on the results of the cabinet meeting on Wednesday evening at the pronouncement hall at the headquarters of the Mauritanian News Agency in Nouakchott, accompanied by the Minister of Economy and Finance and the Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development, he added that the Ministry of Agriculture is working to develop solutions to the damage caused to the agricultural sector there.

In response to a question about the protest of some teachers, the Minister stressed that the opening of this year’s classes was launched in good conditions, both in terms of infrastructure and the distribution of teachers, as the latter took place in the best possible way according to clear criteria set by the Ministry, and opened its doors to receive complaints from those who saw that they were affected by the procedure.

Regarding school uniforms, he said that the uniform was chosen by the educational family because of its educational importance, and it will be compulsory, highlighting that the General Delegation for National Solidarity and Combating Exclusion “t’azur” will provide it free of charge to the poor groups registered in its register.

For his part, Minister of Economy and Finance Sid’ Ahmed Ould Bouh said that the draft law, which repeals and replaces the previous amended and complementary law on public-private partnerships, touched on three main axes, the first of which relates to explaining ways to allow the partnership mechanism between the two sectors.

He added that the second axis is related to emphasizing the strategic role of the Council of Ministers as a leading body that leverages the economy, especially during the assignment of partnership projects between the two sectors, while the third axis is related to making amendments to the file of applications and technical and financial offers among candidates.

With regard to the draft law that allows the ratification of the statute of the Export Development Fund in Africa, the Minister explained that the Fund seeks to achieve four objectives: facilitating access to financing for exporting companies, encouraging the diversification of exported products to promote local manufacturing, supporting export-related infrastructure projects, and strengthening the capabilities of African companies to meet international standards in the field of competitiveness.

He recalled the global context in which the decree comes in order to move the wheel of the economy, as the African continent was suffering from several obstacles due to the lack of dynamism, before the approval of the establishment of a trade exchange area to ensure the exchange of exports and imports, highlighting the importance of Mauritania’s ratification of this project to join the member countries of the Fund to enable them to access international markets.

In response to a question about the decision taken by His Excellency the President of the Republic to allocate 50 billion to make Nouakchott a modern city, His Excellency the Minister confirmed that the plan includes the provision of water to all neighborhoods of the city with the construction of 137 km of roads, including a circular road that wraps the capital with a length of 50 km, to facilitate the flow of traffic, in addition to another 70 km in various neighborhoods of the city and 17 km to expand the road linking um Al-Tunisi Airport and the crossroads popularly known as (Crossroad of Al-Barad) in Tafragh Zeina. It includes the construction of 400 educational facilities and 40 health centers.

He said that the project will be implemented in a short period (16 months), and this will be in partnership with the mayors of Nouakchott and local authorities, praising this unprecedented decision, and calling on everyone to work to make it a success.

Commenting on the statement related to the national firefighting campaign, the Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development, Mrs. Massouda Mint Baham Ould Mohamed Laghdaf, said that the campaign this year has so far achieved satisfactory results in terms of speed of intervention and fire rates compared to last year, as the areas that witnessed fires this season reached 390 square kilometers compared to 500 square kilometers last season.

She stressed that the current campaign includes the construction of 900 km of protective roads, and the implementation rate has so far reached 55%, and that work has begun on the maintenance component of roads, which are scheduled to exceed 700 km, despite the great difficulties facing this component, in addition to working on signing contracts with civil society organizations to build manual preventive roads.

She added that the other components related to awareness, mobilization and fire suppression are continuing, as the fires were finally extinguished in a short period (less than 24 hours) thanks to the concerted efforts of the actors in the operation, including the population, noting that the campaign this year witnessed the addition of the wilayat of Tagant to the four River Valley  wilayas (Guidimagha, Gorgol, Brakna and Trarza), the two Hodhs and Assaba.