The Washington Post
Moroccan minister defends planned high speed rail from critics calling it wasteful
By Associated Press, Updated: Saturday, April 21, 5:15 PM
RABAT, Morocco — Morocco’s transportation minister has for the first time defended a $3 billion high speed rail project from critics calling it wasteful.
Abdelaziz Rebbah says the high speed train line would be “one of the best ways to improve Morocco’s competitiveness.”
Rebbah’s news conference Saturday was held the day after the minister walked out of a debate over the project, calling the critics insulting.
Inaugurated by King Mohammed VI and French President Nicolas Sarkozy in September, the new line will stretch from the port of Tangiers to the commercial capital of Casablanca, 300 kilometers (185 miles) away.
Critics have dismissed it as a vanity project and said the money would be better spent developing Morocco’s existing rail lines and focusing on flagging health and education.
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