Government Spokesman: All measures have been taken to make the 13th Edition of the Madayn Heritage Festival a Success

The Minister of Culture, Arts, Communication and Relations with Parliament, Government Spokesman, Mr. El Houssein Ould Medou, confirmed that the next 13th edition of the Madayn Heritage Festival, to be organized on Friday, in the city of Chinguetti, has witnessed an increase in its components (scientific, cultural and developmental), especially developmental one

s, as the amounts allocated to it reached more than four billion ouguiyas, in order to solve the problems suffered by the population there, such as stabilizing sand, establishing a model farm, providing health and educational facilities, and providing water and electricity.

This came during his comment on the results of the meeting of the Council of Ministers, Wednesday evening at the pronouncement hall of the headquarters of the Mauritanian News Agency in Nouakchott, accompanied by  the Ministers of Islamic Affairs and Indigenous Education, Real Estate and State Property, Land Reform, Housing, Urbanism and Territorial Reclamation, Social Work, Childhood and Family.

He added that His Excellency the President of the Republic, Mohamed Ould Cheikh El Ghazouani, who created the development component three years ago, responded to the most important demands of the residents of Chinguetti to break the isolation from the city, as he allocated 12 billion Ouguiyas to build a road linking the city with the city of Atar.

With regard to scientific and cultural components, he said that this edition will witness for the first time the publication of 12 Mauritanian books, as well as international scientific figures, such as the Director of UNESCO, ISESCO and ALESCO, in addition to 11 international researchers, as well as musical and artistic bands from several countries, stressing that all measures related to the success of the event have been taken.

Regarding the kidnapping of Mauritanian citizens in Mali, the government spokesman said that the kidnapping took place inside Malian territory, and was during an operation by the Malian army, and they regained their freedom and property.

For his part, Minister of Islamic Affairs and Indigenous Education, Sidi Yahya Cheikhna Lemrabott, said that the draft decree, which includes the establishment of bridges between indigenous education and formal education at the basic education level, aims to promote universal schooling (primary and preparatory school) and achieve equity in education, especially in areas where there are no schools.

He said that among the objectives of the project is to reduce the cost to the regular school and enable students to acquire new skills, in addition to obtaining recognized certificates such as the baccalaureate certificate, adding that the project consists of three chapters showing the educational years that will be a bridge between the two systems, as well as the training courses that will be organized annually for the beneficiaries of this program.

The Minister pointed out that the draft decree aims to obtain inclusive education for all capable of consolidating the values of society and its cultural identity, due to the quality of the outputs of our original education and its ability to carry out these tasks.

For his part, the Minister of Real Estate, State Property and Real Estate Reclamation, Mokhtar Ould Boussif, said in his comment on the statement on strengthening the protection of state real estate, that the government has taken some measures to confront the phenomenon of encroachment on real estate witnessed in some areas of the capital, which has increased in frequency recently, especially Zone 5 in Teyaret, Zone 8 in Tefragh Zeina, and the area adjacent to the beach.

He explained that the sectors concerned with real estate (the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Housing and the Ministry of State Real Estate) held a meeting after which the government decided to stop construction in the aforementioned areas, and also decided that citizens who invested in these areas should pay sums of money to the state treasury to settle their situation, in order to spare them from the loss of their property.

His Excellency the Minister stressed that the sector opened the door in the past days for the owners of these lands to provide proof of their ownership of them, but they did not provide proof of this, adding that the procedures will be implemented in the coming days, after the Ministry registered the concerned in an accurate technical manner.

He stressed that the occupation of real estate lands has become unacceptable, and the state is strict in preventing it, and will develop accurate mechanisms for continuous monitoring of the real estate field, adding that the government decided to stop construction in public squares, carry out a comprehensive census of them, and develop a strict system for these squares and ways to use them to serve the citizen.

He warned citizens against buying plots of land in the Tamerkit area, located between the road junction popularly known as “Al-Barad” and the village of “Agnodret”, because they are areas not designated for housing, but to embrace development projects previously granted by the state based on a book of obligations signed between the state and investors, and when it is violated, the grants will be considered null and void.

He added that among the measures taken by the government to address land imbalances is the application of the State Inspectorate Convention to the problem of rural cuts in Nouakchott, which numbered twenty cuts.

For his part, the Minister of Housing, Urbanism and Territorial Reclamation, Mamoudou Mamadou Niang, said that the draft law amending and repealing some provisions of the law on urbanization and construction provides amendments that allow on the one hand to better define the responsibilities of those concerned, and on the other hand to improve land management, especially in large communities.

He explained that urban documents, including the urban planning master plan, the local urban planning plan, and the zoning plan, fall within the competences of the ministry concerned with urban planning, while land divisions and grants are related to the competencies of the ministry concerned with property.

The Minister added that the urban operations related to restructuring, joint planning, and city renovation, due to their complexity, will be carried out in cooperation between the ministries concerned with urban planning and property.

He pointed out that the project comes in accordance with the commitments of His Excellency the President of the Republic, in his electoral program “My ambition for the homeland”, pointing out that within the framework of the trend towards land reform, the state has adopted a policy aimed at unifying competencies in the field of land management, through the establishment of a new ministry in charge of property affairs and land reclamation.

The Minister of Social Work, Childhood and Family, Ms. Savia Mint N’tahah, said that the joint statement with the Ministry of Economy and Finance on the national strategy for inclusion and promotion of the rights of persons with disabilities came after the development of a strategic vision prepared by more than 12 ministries, in order to enable this group without discrimination to enjoy their full rights, highlighting that each government sector bears part of it.

She added that among the objectives of the strategy are to strengthen the legal and institutional framework for persons with disabilities, promote an inclusive society to combat stereotypes, to integrate this category of society into active life, as well as seek to strengthen the capacities of actors and mobilize the necessary human resources to implement the strategy.

The Minister referred to the great care that this group received from His Excellency the President of the Republic, Mr. Mohamed Ould Cheikh El Ghazouani, and the achievements achieved in his first mission and what they will receive in his second mission, through the care included in his electoral program, and the improvement of social services and bringing them closer to them.