Editorial
Somalilandsun – The government has got to move swiftly to save the people from a situation of not only a pending, but a sure, economy crisis.
Since the local energy moguls decided that they were hiking electricity bill by a whopping 20%, it took the local transport commuter services around 100 hours not to be outsmarted, hence dangled their swords to cut off a further 25% from pockets of passengers.
Sooner or later those baying for the blood of unsuspecting members of public would be all unscrupulous merchants of all sorts.
The irony in the grist of the matter is that when the so called energy providers dipped their blood-sucking proboscis into the people’s bloodstream, they passed the buck to the government.
They insinuated that the state itself instigated a situation of having severe short of oil (petroleum) supplies in the country.
Their main ‘billing chit’ called for the state to provide major pumps for ‘heavy’ oil – or did they mean crude oil? If so, do we have refineries?
Whatever the case, ships with the sub-standard petroleum (locally called Xabaq) that were turned back got many to grind their teeth in chagrin and, again, passed their bucks to government desk.
While they all dub the government as the main culprits to have caused the sky-rocketing prices, just sample the following if the cliques are justified.
A $10 USD monthly bill will now be 12 (thus the 20% increase) whereas the same 10USD worth of 10llitres diesel is now going for only 10.3 USD.
Further more, those who felt that they shouldn’t be outsmarted would have their tabulation depict worse sharks.
Are their percentage increases justified?
Of course out there the worst sharks are lurking ready to plough for their pounds of flesh.
What we see, we convictionally repeat; thus a situation of real economic crisis, not a mere question of pending issue, is here with us.
It is in this breath that we appeal and call upon the government to move extra fast, and in so doing, manage to kill two birds with single stone.
One, they should arrest the situation and save the population.
Two, is the simple fact that it should redeem itself from those out there trying to demonize it.
The fact is that Somalilanders are able to withstand all forms of bad weathers. But one that they cannot handle is quite clear.
This is it; given that the price of gas (oil) had not increased at/from point of origin and that no extra taxes on the same were imposed at point of landing (here), nothing at all justifies any increases.
If suppliers are causing the chaos, then they are not sabotaging only a government but are indeed maiming a whole people, their aspirations and their whole country.
Somalilanders have persevered in many a situation, jumped many a hurdle and crossed many a river to be where they are today.
To fleece poor people, who only live from hand to mouth hence unable to feed a second soul, is not only murderous, but surely sadism.
The Writer M.A.Egge is the editor of the Horn Tribune a weekly English newspaper published in Hargeisa by the state owned Dawan Media Group
