The minister of foreign affairs and international cooperation Dr.Sa’ad Ali Shire has confirmed the date of the commencement of construction work at Berbera International Port and the Berbera- Wajale highway. Minister Sa’ad also touched on the reshuffle of Somaliland missions abroad during an exclusive interview with the Horn Newspaper.
These are the excerpts from the interview…..
Q- Mr. Minister the Berbera corridor project which was supposed to link Berbera town with the border post of Wajale and the construction of the military base why has the project not begun?
A- The Berbera- Wajale road will commence after a company that was given the consultancy to correlate data finish their work. After they finish the data collection and planning of the road design the tender for constuctionof the road will be announced.
Q- Why has the modernization of Berbera port not commenced following a memorandum of understanding between Somaliland government and multinational DP World?
A-God willing the port construction and modernization project will start in October.
Q-Please can you tell us a bit about the UAE military base in Berbera?
A-The construction of the military base is ongoing it will take some time.
Q-How do you gauge the president reshuffle of the UAE ambassador to Kenya and the appointment of a new envoy to that country?
A-This is normal tendency of countries to post new ambassadors and recall others I do not see anything wrong with that.
Q-As you are aware the former ambassador to the UAE H.E Bashe Awil has been posted to Kenya do you think the new ambassador to the UAE will improve the relation between the two countries?
A-The bilateral relationship between the UAE and Somaliland concerns nations hence should not be viewed as a relationship of persons. Ambassador Bashe is not the only envoy who has represented Somaliland in the UAE. Ambassadors are changed but not the countries will remain the same.