Fearing that bulldozers could arrive before they have time to clear their shops, used auto parts dealers at the Salmia scrapyard in Casablanca have stopped buying fresh stock, while nearly half their workers have lost their jobs as the proposed relocation of the market remains stalled.
It has been six months since traders were told they would be shifted to a new site near the Médiouna landfill. But the land has yet to be prepared, and shopkeepers say they have no idea when they will be asked to leave.
The uncertainty has taken its toll on business at the market, where customers are finding fewer parts on offer and traders are unwilling to spend money on merchandise they may have to move at short notice.
“Traders can no longer afford to buy new parts and bring them into their shops. They are afraid a demolition order could come through and they could lose some of their merchandise,” said Soufiane Aziz, president of the Regional Federation of Importers and Sellers of Used Spare Parts in Salmia.
The slump in sales has already cost workers their livelihoods.
“This situation has forced us to let go of nearly half of the workers employed in the shops,” he said.
The market provides work not only to spare parts dealers but also to laborers and middlemen who help customers find what they need. Some earn between MAD 120 and MAD 200 a day, according to traders.
Aziz said the authorities had assured them that they would be contacted once the new site was ready, giving them time to remove their goods before the market was cleared.
“The site has not yet been developed. Officials told us they would contact us once the land was ready so we could remove our merchandise and prepare for the transfer,” he said.
The Salmia scrapyard in Casablanca.
The land earmarked for the new market covers nearly 20 hectares near the Médiouna landfill and is supposed to be levelled and prepared to accommodate the dealers.
Traders had initially welcomed the location, believing it would provide enough space for their businesses.
“The choice of this land reassures us. It is large enough to accommodate professionals and allow them to work in better conditions,” Aziz said in an earlier statement.
But with no work under way at the replacement site, the dealers remain stuck at Salmia, unable to plan their move or run their businesses as before.
