By: Yusuf M Hasan
HARGEISA (Hornnewspaper) – Victims of the recent heavy rains in the country that flooded their homes and killed livestock are to benefit from Ethiopian largesse as three truck loads of relief items were availed by the government of the neigbouring country.
“While this donation meager compare to the number of affected victims, it is only the first and hopefully more shall be availed” said the Ethiopian Ambassador to Somaliland General Berhe Tesfaye during the relief handover to the minister of Resettlement and Rehabilitation Mr. Ahmed Abdi Asood in Hargeisa.
According to Gen Tesfaye the relief items which are composed of hundred tons of rice, assorted nutritional supplements, milk for infants and breastfeeding infants as well as tents were donated by Ethiopian people as a gesture of friendship to disaster afflicted citizens of Somaliland.
“It is important for our two friendly peoples to aid each other during times of difficulties” said the Ethiopian Ambassador as he revealed while the current donation is the first of its kind from his country a similar one has been dispatched to neigbouring South Sudan and the Somalia regional administration of Puntland as well.
Thanking the Ethiopian government for being first to respond to a relief appeal, the minister of Resettlement and Rehabilitation Mr. Ahmed Abdi Asood said that the gesture is a mark of the brotherly and friendly relations that exist between the two neigbouring countries of Ethiopia and Somaliland.
“We thank our Ethiopian brothers for their support during our time of need and promise to utilize the donation appropriately for the benefit of the flood victims most of whom are currently displaced in various parts of the country” said Minister Asood as he officially assumed possession of the Ethiopian donation.
Among Other senior Somaliland government officials witnessing the food relief handover from Ethiopia was the deputy interior minister in-charge of security who also commended the conducive relations existing between the two neigbouring countries
Ethiopia which was the first country to establish full diplomatic relations with Somaliland also becomes the first foreign nation to respond to a recent appeal by the Hargeisa government for relief aid for victims of heavy rains in the country.
