By: Yumoha Pasha
DUBAI (Somalilandsun) – The newly found comradeship between Presidents Silanyo and Sharif has ended in the sale of Berbera Port.
According to our sources in Dubai the operational management of Berbera port in Somaliland has been taken over by the Dubai Ports world-DPW after a secret meeting between the Emirati owned company and the presidents of Somaliland and Somalia in Dubai.
President Silanyo is reported to have affixed his signature, in secret, to a DPW Berbera ports operation contract original signed by the president of the Somalia Transitional Government-TFG Sheikh Sharif in Dubai on Thursday the 28th June 2012.
According to our reliable source who requested anonymity the contract mandates the DPW with full operational management of Berbera ports, Somaliland’s biggest import and export base. The DPW will also be responsible for infrastructural and human resource development at both the port and the Berbera international airport and in return the government of Somaliland will receive 35% of any/all profits accrued by Dubai Ports World in the venture.
The deal which is said to have been initiated by President Silanyo’s predecessor Dahir Rayale Kahin has been on the shelf for a number of years following demands by the Dubai Ports World that the TFG must acquiesce and co-sign the contract because Somaliland is not recognized as a sovereign country but as a regional administration of Somalia.
In order to entice the TFG president into affixing his signature to the contract Somaliland’s president Ahmed Mahmoud Silanyo is said to have promised TFG’s Sheikh Sharif financial and voters for his presidential re-election bid that will occur this coming August when the mandate of the internationally fronted TFG expires.
It appears that the DPW deal was a pre-arranged agenda between the two presidents who were in the UAE for purposes of affirming their presidential commitments to the Chevening House declaration signed by the SL & TFG governments in London on 23rd June 2012 during the first face to face meeting in 21 years.
In the sidelines of an anti-piracy meeting in Dubai, the presidents Silanyo and Sharif of Somaliland and Somalia respectively, who were in accord as per the need to continue dialogue between the two former united countries turned 21 years enemies, thus the Emirati fronted Dubai Charter which supports the British fronted Chevening house declaration.
It is after signing the Dubai Charter that the Berbera port deal was embarked on, with the prodding, pushing and shoving of the hosts UAE. The government of the tiny Horn Africa nation of Djibouti is in a similar port agreement with DP World whose majority shareholder is Amir of Dubai and UAE Prime Minister Muhammad bin Rashid Al-Makhuum.
The DPW was established in 1991 and currently operates more than 60 terminals across six continents, with container handling generating around 80% of its revenue. In addition, the company currently has 11 new developments and major expansions underway in 10 countries.
With over 30,000 around the world the company constantly invests in terminal infrastructure, facilities and people, working closely with customers and business partners to provide quality services today and tomorrow, when and where customers need them.
In 2011, DP World handled nearly 55 million TEU (twenty-foot equivalent container units) across its portfolio from the Americas to Asia. With a pipeline of expansion and development projects in key growth markets, including India, China and the Middle East, capacity is expected to rise to around 103 million TEU by 2020, in line with market demand.
