Drugs' Mafia Threatens Algeria Stability, Interior Minister says

Interior and Local Communities Minister, Noureddine Badaoui, visited Tindouf province (southern Algeria), to send political messages to the Moroccan party, without mentioning a name, and met with his Sahraoui counterpart, Hama Salama, and discussed issues of common interest, and the most important developments of the Saharawi cause, as this is the second meeting, after the one which bought the Prime Minister, Abdelmalek Sellal, with his counterparts from Western Sahara government last March.

Interior minister said, at a meeting with civil society on Tuesday evening, in Tindouf (southern Algeria), that “Algeria will continue to fight against the scourge of drugs, that is destroying our society and becomes a way out of the means which aim to destroy the security and stability of the country, through targeting the youth”.

“Measures that were taken by different security services like tightening control have clear results in the field, and civil society has an important role in accompanying security services in raising awareness of the dangers of this scourge”, this came in response to the concerns that were brought by residents on the lips of their representatives who expressed fears of the spread of the phenomenon of drugs’ mafia in Tindouf (southern Algeria).

Interior Minister met the demands of some local officials to open the border in order to activate the trade exchange, which is the only sustenance for the people of the region, and said; “The state will support the border municipalities through allocating financial envelopes to address the social phenomena, and establish development projects, in addition to funding social hashes regarding the initialization by allocating a sum of 13 billion dinars, and promised to address the file of water desalination in the south, which would be one of the files that will be discussed by the government.

For his part, Interior and Local Groups Minister, described the attempts to doubt on the ability of the Algerian community to lift the economic challenge as unfair, adding that Algeria will exceed the current stage, and help investors to create wealth, in addition to the facilities that the government will be approved by giving flexibility to the legal texts. 

In this regard, he revealed on the four laws before the end of the year, in the forefront of the municipality and province that will widen the powers of local authorities, and allow the adoption of strategies at the local level according to the ins and the wealth of each region, stressing that the trend is based on decentralization of making decisions.

Interior Minister criticized the conduct of the project of Djebilet Gas in Tindouf, saying that officials should give it more attention, for the passage to the exploitation in the next few years, especially since it has a significant wealth of iron which is estimated at 3 billion tons, adding that “Those in charge of the project should conduct the follow-up in the field, and establish the headquarters of the company in Tindouf, instead of the follow-up from Algiers’ offices.”

“Population of the South should invest in agriculture and renewable energies, because Algeria is counting on them to cover the needs of 30% of Algerians during the next ten years. Government opens doors to Algerian investors and even foreigners.”

“Political class should help the military institution and reach a consensus on the security side, given that it is one of the priorities of the country at the moment. Politics are politics, and there is opposition and support, but the minimum is avoiding conflict, even in words when it comes to the security and stability of the homeland.”