The head of state H.E. Musa Bihi Abdi attended an event organized by Somaliland people in America. The president updated them about the Country. The president stated that world powers were scrambling to initiate contact with Somaliland. He reiterated that Somaliland has held free and fair election, maintained peace with itself and her neighbour and its strategic location in the Horn of Africa has been a catalyst for attracting new friends.
The president said these in a meeting organized by Somaliland people in America. The president speech included the state of affairs in the country, be it political, social and economic development. He also acknowledged the problem of recurring drought in the country. President Bihi revealed that the government was trying to solve this quagmire by building dams.
He stated that during the 11 years reign of Kulmiye party the country has experience relative peace. He said the the country borders has expanded exponentially to its original size.
The head of state said that peace is the key for development, followed by health and education respectively. He went on to say that the Kulmiye party led government has strengthened the armed forces in terms of new recruitments, equipment and training.
The commander-in-chief told Somaliland American diaspora that the country suffers from perennial water shortages, hence the need for more funding in this sector.
He confirmed that the government had dug 250 wells in drought affected Eastern regions of the country. He added that these wells were not enough to quench the thirst of an ever increase population.
President Bihi stated that the wells constructed have most of the time failed due to technical knowledge on the part of the contractors. In some instances they collapse, others become unusable because of a technical failure of a simple device like the dynamo. All these have happened after more than 100 000 or 200000 dollars have been invested.
The head of state revealed that a strategic plan is in the offing, to make the country self-sufficient in water resources. He said the World Bank will fund the project to build large dams.
President Bihi also informed the diaspora community in America that the development fund given by the World Bank has finally been released to Somaliland.
He stated that the Somalia government had in the past five years tried to sabotage Somaliland from receiving aid from the World Bank. He said that Mogadishu wanted to take control of the monies intended for Somalilad’s development, but failed since the World Bank would not allow of their bizarre ploy.
President Musa confirmed that the World Bank had given 14 million dollars to Somaliland. He added that the government had allocated 7 million dollars for construction of large dams in all the provinces.
He also acknowledged that five of the six regions of the country suffers from water shortages except Awdal region which has enough water sources.
Head of state specifically shed light on Hargeisa water sources
Geed-deble, he said that the amount of water in its barrows is unknown. He added water from Geed-deble was only enough to quench the thirst of a quarter of City of Hargeisa population.
About Odweine district the president stated that during the 11 years of Kulmiye party administration they have dug six wells at a cost of, 500000 dollar each. The president said that most of the wells collapse when more than 1000 herd of camels step on them.
He added that of the six wells constructed in Odweine all have failed in providing water, hence the need to find other alternatives. The President told Somaliland community in America that the government intends to build large dams across a seasonal river which is located 60 kilometers from Odweine town.
President Musa also highlighted the general situation of Ainabo town. He said Ainabo has become a big town and its population had increased tremendously, hence the necessity of more funding for water resources.
He revealed that water found Ainabo was salty and secondly water sources were located far distances.
Speaking about the drought assistance the president informed the diaspora community that the government has dispatched 13000 water tankers to famine afflicted people. He said that 17000 water tankers are needed to help the people during the drought season.
He also informed about amount paid for 1000 water tankers, which costed 210,000 dollars. Furthermore, he added that now it costs, 260000 to hire the tankers since sources of water have become scarce and are located at far distances.
He went on to reveal to them that most of the money for water distribution to drought affected inhabitants has been funded by the government and the business community. The president said that the people of Somaliland will not stoop low to beg for help, but instead whatever their people contribute will be utilized to move forward to help to solve their problem.
Speaking about the Ceel-afweine and Sool skirmishes, the president stated that more than 100 people have lost their lives. He said the government has worked tirelessly to bring peace to the region.
The president revealed that 6,700,000 dollars had been spent into past two years to bring peace in Ceel-afwein. He said in 2019 alone 800,000 dollars was spent on top of another 200,000 dollars all for purposes of peace in Ceel-afwein region.
President Bihi said the agenda of his visit to America was international recognition and engagement with Somaliland.
