President Bouteflika decides to spur development of southern regions to absorb local population’s anger

The President of the Republic Abdelaziz Bouteflika has announced that sub-provinces will be created during the first half of current year in the southern provinces adding that the process will be extended to include the High Plateaux regions in the year 2016.

This announcement was made by the head of state during a small-scale meeting he chaired Tuesday and devoted to spurring local development in the southern and High Plateaux provinces of Algeria.

The projected creation of the sub-provinces will be geared to bringing the administration closer to citizens, said the press release issued at the end of the small-scale meeting which brought together 13 senior officials including Premier Abdelmalek Sellal and the vice-national defense minister and Army chief of staff, Lieutenant General Ahmed Gaid Salah.

The process will be extended to include High Plateaux provinces in 2016, and gradually to the other regions of the country in preparation for the creation of new provinces.

In this connection, President Bouteflika enjoined the Government to upgrade local governance, especially in the southern and High Plateaux provinces.

The head of State also brought into focus the national strategy of town and country planning, codified for more than a decade, saying the High Plateaux are “the backbone of the development of our country and of the future redeployment of our population.”

President Bouteflika: “Exploiting shale gas is not the order of the day for the moment”

Concerning the projected shale gas exploitation, President Bouteflika underscored that this option is not on the government’s agenda for the time being.

The President of the Republic spoke of “misunderstanding and concerns” sparked by the initial experiences in the experimental shale gas drilling carried out in Ain Salah region in southern Tamenrasset province.

The Government has to give further detailed explanations to the local population and public opinion through a transparent national debate in order to clarify that the pilot drilling in the south of the country will end “very soon” and that the shale gas exploitation is “out of the question for the moment”, emphasized the head of state.

 However, he asserted that all and sundry must come to understand the importance of non-conventional hydrocarbons which represent “a tangible reality and new wealth for our country.”