Morocco and Holland signed in Rabat, the Moroccan capital, Wednesday November 3, an agreement that the Dutch government will donate 1.5 million Euros to the anti-desertification battle in Morocco, according to Moroccan government sources.
The Moroccan minister of agriculture, Mohand Laenser and the Dutch ambassador to Holland, Sjoerd Leenstra, negotiated that the funds will be devoted to buying pick-up trucks equipped with sprinklers to treat 15,600 hectares per day.
The Dutch ambassador said this is not just a sign of solidarity with Morocco's locust epidemic, but a strengthening of commercial and economic ties. He also said that the locust epidemic has repercussions in Europe as well.
Morocco has already employed about 40 planes including the large transporters, C- 130, about a dozen helicopters and many 4 x 4 trucks. The ministry of agriculture's present budget in the locust battle is 15 million Euros, much of its spent on spreading 970,000 liters of pesticides. (menareport.com)
