Announcement of Morocco to Use One Hundred Twenty-Seven Million Dollars in IBRD Loans for Small- and Medium-Scale Irrigation and Fourth Highways Projects on March 31, 1983

FOR . lf\:1MED1ATE RELEASE. •World Bank 1818 H Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20433, U.S.A.• Telephone: (202) 477-1234 BANK NEWS RELEASE NO. 83/58 Contact: Pushpa Schwartz March 31, 1983 (202) 477-3294 MOROCCO TO USE $127 MILLION IN IBRD LOANS FOR SMALL- AND MEDIUM-SCALE IRRIGATION AND FOUR.TH HIGHWAYS PROJECTS Horocco will improve its road network and expand small- and medium-scale irrigation works with the support of $127 million in loans ftom the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD). A $42 million loan will help finance an irrigation project to benefit 50,000 people, while an $85 million loan will be used to provide betttr road ttan1port. The IBRD loans are for 17 years, including four years of grace, at an interest rate linked to the cost of Bank borrowings. The loans also carry an annual commitment charge of 0.75% on undisbursed balances and a front-end fee of 0.75% on the amount of the loan. • Small- and Medium-Scale Irrigation Project Irrigation works covering a total of 17,800 hectares in widely scattered areas of Morocco will be rehabilitated benefitting some 50,000 people on 8,000 farms. Higher agricultural yields, intensified cropping, and expanded areas should result in substantially increased production of crops and livestock. Under the $101.6 million project, 12,500 hectares of land lying in three areas using traditional irrigation schemes will be rehabilitated in Chichaoua, 80 kilometers west of Harrakech, Ghiss, along the Mediterranean coast, and Souss, in the southwest. Deteriorated canals will be lined in concrete or rehabilitated, and drainage works constructed. Modern irrigation schemes will be developed in Middle Sebou, in north-central Morocco, and in Jemaa Sahim, along the Atlantic coast. Pumping stations, reiervoirst and power supply lines will be installed& A key feature of the project is that farmers will be organized into water users 1 associations and will assume varying degre.es of responsibility for management of operations and maintenance, as wall as for reimbursing the government for operation and maintenance costs and for part of the investment costs. The' Kingdom of Horocco will provide $56. 4 million toward the project, the beneficiaries, $2~2 million, and the National Agricultural Credit Bank, $1 million .. • NOTE: Money figures are expressed in U.S. dollar equivalents.  - 2 - Fourth Highway Project The $287 million project will finance a four-year program of road m~intenance, rehabilitation and new construction throughout Morocco. The Roads and Traffic Department will expand its fleet of road maintenance equipment and • construct and equip repair workshops. About 470 kilometers of deteriorated primary and secondary roads will be resurfaced and strengthened, and 14 old bridges, unsafe for modern heavy traffic, will be replaced. About 300 kilometers of provincial roads in rural areas will be upgraded, as a pilot program to explore the link between the provision of all-weather roads and agricultural development. A study to monitor this program and prepare a full-scale program of such roads for possible future financing will. 1 so be carried out. By constructing the final section ( 29 kilometers) of the Casablanca-Rabat expressway, heavy congestion on the existing two-lane highway will be relieved. The IBRD loan will also help finance a survey of the freight transport market and a review of trucking regulations for the Ministry of Transport as well as technical assistance for both the Planning and Studies Department of the Ministry of Public Works, and for three divisions of the Roads and Traffic Department. The Kingdom of Morocco will provide $202.3 million for project costs. II • •