An eyebrow raising venture since targeted Berbera Corridor and Airport Construction part and parcel of the DP world contract

Somalilandsun – Land connection between Ethiopia and Somaliland is to be eased with construction of the Berbera corridor
This was informed by the presidential communication office through a press statement that revealed the signing of a funding agreement by the United Arab Emirates that also includes construction of an international standards airport at the Somaliland port city

“The governments of Somaliland and UAE have concluded agreement towards finalization of Berbera corridor as well as Berbera international airport” read the statement
Though the amount of money the UAE is contributing to the two projects was not revealed, as well as UAE signatory the statement attributed the signature of foreign minister Dr Saad Ali Shire on behalf of Somaliland.
Similarly it was informed that all the somalilamd ministers currently in the Emirates were witness to the agreement that will according to the presidency communication office, “result with much needed employment opportunities”
Apart from the foreign minister other cabinet colleagues with him in the UAE include his Presidency, finance, planning, aviation and livestock colleagues namely Mahmud Hashi Abdi, Zamzam Abdi Aden, Mohamed Ibrahim Adan, Farhan Ahmed Heibe and. Abdillahi Mohammed Dahir respectively.
Circumstances leading to a large number of senior Somaliland cabinet ministers in the UAE has been attributed to paying a courtesy call on their boss president Ahmed Mahmud Silanyo who is on a personal visit there.
In a statement released on Saturday the livestock minister Hon. Abdillahi Mohammed Dahir speaking on behalf of his colleagues is quoted as stating that , “The President held a consultative meeting with a section of his cabinet who were in the gulf state on official duties hence appraised him on the matters at hand”.
Adding that “The state officials were indulged in the matters of the livestock trade (which was banned) to Saudi Arabia and bilateral issues between our country and the UAE which happens to be a close ally”.
The livestock minister revealed that their visit to President mainly was because of greeting him since he coincidentally happened to be in the UAE on holiday and secondly to update him on the issues at hand.
He said that the officials were mainly there to indulge in matters on measures that would lift the livestock embargo and economical issues that would help arrest the inflation which is gripping the local currency in the country presently.
This seemingly cabinet meeting held in a foreign land is the talk within the public who are wondering on whether Somaliland is slowly being turned into an Emirati satellite in the Horn in lieu of recent deals that have seen the UAE acquire a 30 yrs concession to manage the Port of Berbera, secure a military base at the port city not to mention the just revealed conclusion n of development funding of unknown sums.
Similarly one would not fail to wonder on why the Berbera airport requires further construction having just been uplifted at the cost of millions of dollars availed by Kuwait and put under charge of current presidency minister Mahmud Hashi Abdi during his tenure as aviation minister.
On the other hand the signing of Berbera corridor funding is dubious owing to the fact that construction of the road connecting Berbera port and Somaliland at large to mainland Ethiopia was part and parcel of the Berbera port operation contract worth $422m awarded Dubai ports world

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