Morocco’s Ministry of Energy, Mining, Water, and Environment has launched the environmental police to protect against environmental damage.
The Minister Delegate in Charge of the Environment issued environmental inspector’s cards, technical monitoring equipment and vehicles for the environmental police on Thursday, 23 February in Rabat according to a report by Morocco World News.
The creation of the regional environmental brigades was announced in 2013, a decree issued on 2015 set the mission of the environmental police to include raising of awareness of environmental issues and the inspection, research, investigation, verbalization and detection of environmental infringements, among other things.
According to the decree, environmental police officers “perform their functions voluntarily, or at the request of the governmental environmental authority, or as part of a national environmental supervisory board set up for purpose of environment protection. “
Environment offences include but are not limited to depositing waste on private or public land, possessing obsolete products or contraband drugs and transporting of dangerous goods without authorization.
Penalties range from 10 USD to 10,000 USD and possible imprisonment.
“Since November 2013, a brigade of 14 environmental police elements have been deployed in Casablanca, Rabat and Mohammedia. From January to July 2014, 414 offense tickets were registered.” Said the report by MWN
