Chaired by the Minister of the Interior, the monitoring committee is composed of the Minister of Economy and Finance, the Minister of Agriculture, Maritime Fishing, Rural Development and Water and Forests, the Minister of Equipment and Water.
The committee also includes the Minister of Urban Planning and Development, Housing and Urban Policy, the Minister of Health and Social Protection, the Minister of Industry and Trade, the Minister of Solidarity, Social Integration and Family, the Minister Delegate to the Head of Government in charge of the Administration of National Defense, and a group of seven experts designated by the Head of Government.
The Commission’s tasks, as provided for in Law 110.14, are to advise the government on the catastrophic nature of the event, to assist the Solidarity Fund for Catastrophic Events (FSEC) in assessing the damage suffered by the victims and to submit proposals for improving the system of coverage for the consequences of catastrophic events.
This Commission will have to assume a decisive role in the declaration of disasters as well as in the process of compensation of victims of catastrophic events, since it is called to assess and determine the character of the catastrophic event, before its declaration by order of the Head of Government.
In a statement to the press, the Minister of Equipment and Water, Nizar Baraka, said that this meeting aims to implement the law on natural disasters, stressing the importance of adopting the decree on the Monitoring Commission of catastrophic events.
In a context marked by climate change and the dangers arising from it, the State works, in accordance with the High Royal Directions, for the compensation of the population affected by floods, earthquakes and other natural disasters, added the Minister.
During this meeting, it was appointed a committee of experts who will be responsible, among other things, to set the rate of compensation and manage the financial resources allocated, noted Baraka.
In a similar statement, FSEC Director Abderrahim Chaffai stressed the importance of holding the meeting of the Monitoring Commission for the activation of Law 110.14 on the creation of a coverage scheme for the consequences of catastrophic events.
This Commission is responsible for submitting reports to the Head of Government in the event of an incident to determine whether or not it is a catastrophic event before it is published in the Official Bulletin, he explained.
A committee of expertise composed of a group of experts and representatives of the ministries was formed from this Commission, with the aim of assisting the FSEC in the preparation of a report on the extent of disasters as well as the possibility of compensating the affected population, he added.
Aware of the need to provide the State with mechanisms and effective tools to anticipate and intervene to control the consequences of this type of phenomena, the public authorities have taken a battery of priority measures, in particular the strengthening of capacities and means of prevention and intervention of the actors concerned, including the Directorate General of Civil Protection, the Directorate General of Meteorology and the National Institute of Geophysics.
It is also the creation of the Monitoring and Coordination Center of the Ministry of Interior in 2008 and the Fund to fight against the effects of natural disasters in 2009, the establishment of the Central Directorate for the management of natural disaster risks at the Ministry of Interior for the improvement of governance of natural risk management and the strengthening of the policy of natural disaster risk management with the development of a National Strategy for the management of natural disaster risks (2021-2030).
In addition to these efforts, the government has decided the institution of a system of coverage of the consequences of catastrophic events, based on a mechanism of compensation for victims of catastrophic events and the creation of a Solidarity Fund against catastrophic events.