At a press conference yesterday at his office, the Public Works Minister, Abdirashid Qambi, said Hass Petroleum owners were fueling the fire in Buhodle by funding a rebel faction announced in the district last year.
The minister had traded accusations against other businessmen in Mogadishu of funding the rebel group.
He said that the government had contacted with traditional elder in Buhodle to convey a sterm warning of the devastation that a warfare could bring to the region.
The minister alleged that the new rebel group declared in Buhodle was a private venture spearheaded by individuals seeking fortune.
He stated that the group was headed by individuals seeking profit and was funded by individuals in Mogadishu and Addis Ababa.
The firm, Hass Petroleum, is a private and investment company based in Nairobi, the Kenyan capital.
Abdinasir Ali Hassan and his late brother Abdirisak Ali Hassan are the sole founder of the company and hail from Somaliland.
It has operational offices in certain African countries besides Somaliland.
Hass Petroleum had called on the minister to bring the evidences of his allegations to the public. They said that they would lodge a case against the minister in Somaliland court.
