“The alarm bell is ringed. The State has decided to enforce a law preventing agricultural lands to be used for urban or industrial projects,” said Abderrahmane Madani Fouatih, wali of Mila, a wilaya of the eastern part of Algeria, as he was addressing the growing issue of agricultural land misappropriation.

According to website El Watan, the situation is dire. “Whole plains, renown in the past for the quality of their lands, are now used for real-estate and economic projects. Mila’s agricultural lands are shrinking as more and more of them are being misappropriated for urban and industrial projects. No community is spared by the issue which affects both private and public lands,” the site reports.

Concerning the source of the problem the wali said “it sometimes comes from within the government itself”. “Some officials are corrupted or ingrate who use their authority to steal lands. The National Arable Land Office must now act to protect these lands and launch an investigation to find those responsible,” he said.

Souha Touré