Residents of the city of Salé, especially at the intersection of Lalla Amina Street, Lalla Meryem Street, and Mazraa Street in the Tabrikt district, complain about two shisha cafes that are less than 50 meters apart.

According to the complainants, in addition to the smells of shisha, embers, and drugs leaking into their homes, the gathering of customers of both sexes, and the spread of harassment in the vicinity of nearby buildings, and in the vicinity of the two cafés that are close to two educational institutions, the patrons of the two cafés deliberately park cars in places where parking is prohibited according to the traffic and tour regulations of the Salé community, and on the sidewalk of a street. Lalla Amina, which obstructs traffic in the area, whether for car owners or pedestrians.

According to citizens affected by these legal violations, the administrative police of the Salé community had previously raided the two cafés located in buildings No. 29.30 and No. 6 on Lalla Amina Street, and issued reports of their violation of the group’s economic licensing decision, as well as a collective decision related to prohibiting the use and consumption of shisha in cafes and places. Open to the general public, without penalties being arranged, in accordance with the two aforementioned legal texts.

The head of the Tabriket district had previously held responsibility for the spread of shisha cafes in Salé on the group’s leader, Omar Santisi, because he did not issue a decision to close these cafes, and accused him of violating the law by granting a new license to the cafe located in Building 29.30, against which a final closure decision was issued at the request of the authority. Local residents, due to their use of hookah and their threat to the safety of neighboring residents.

According to a residents’ petition, addressed to the Minister of Interior – a copy of which was received by the website -, this café was reopened after a final closure decision, by decision No. 27/2022, file No. 115/2019, which is not found in the licensing platform created by the Ministry of Interior, noting that The process of opening the café took place outside the requirements of the collective licensing decision, which prohibits the reopening of shops that have been closed, except with a new license granted to its applicant in accordance with the formalities stipulated in the collective decision, which was not done according to the protest petition addressed to the Minister of the Interior.

The affected citizens add that this café was the subject of parliamentary questions, to which the Minister of the Interior answered, by emphasizing that the use of shisha in cafés is against the law, and that the local authority is raiding the monitored cafés, issuing reports regarding the raid and corresponding with the Public Prosecution and the Salé community about it.

This is at a time when the General Inspectorate of Territorial Administration confirmed, in response to a complaint about the matter from those affected, that temporary decisions to close the two cafés complained of were issued by the prefecture of Salé, and that their reopening was accomplished with a pledge by their owners not to use shisha, but the two cafés returned to using shisha, which is what is proven. Local authority and national security raids, on several occasions, and what was confirmed by the administrative police of the Salé community, without the required legal measures being taken.

The affected citizens accused the head of the Salé community of covering up these two cafés, procrastinating in issuing the closure decision against them, and explaining this procrastination in a dispute with his deputy delegate for economic affairs.