Caretaker President visits Rjim Maatoug region

Interim President Moncef Marzouki visited, on Wednesday afternoon, the Rjim Maatoug region, in the Kebili governorate, where he conferred with officials in charge of the region's development board, who briefed him on this vanguard development project.The President of the Republic, who was escorted by the National Defence Minister Abdelkrim Zbidi and Chief-of-Staff of the Armies General Rachid Ammar, met with the citizens beneficiaries of the palm-tree land plots as part of this project implemented by the National Defence Ministry jointly with the Rjim Maatoug Development Board. The Rjim Maatoug Project is meant to fight desertification by means of setting up a belt that dams up sand progress along a 25-Km distance and with the creation of 2,500 hectares of palm-tree plantations, in addition to social infrastructures and the dwellings offered to the beneficiaries of these land plots, to encourage the inhabitants to stay in the region and help them improve their living conditions, while developing their agricultural production, particularly the "Deglet Nour" dates. The first part of the land plots of this project, in whose financing Italy and the European Union contributed, has benefited to 737 persons by one hectare and a half per person; while the second part was distributed amongst 163 farmers, including 86 young higher-education graduates, with an average land plot of three hectares/person. Besides, Mr. Moncef Marzouki visited, on Wednesday in the city of Tozeur, the Aboulkacem Chebbi Mausoleum where he recited the Fatiha in memory of the late great poet.