Somaliland: Demolition of the Social, Economic, Cultural and Environmental Life in Northern Somalia

In this article, I reproduce several reports published by the IRIN portal that bear witness to the unprecedented devastation that tyrant Rayaale, Mafia lord of Hargeisa and puppet of the Abyssinian butcher Meles Zenawi, has brought to the cheated Northern Somalis who have been entrapped in his unrecognized territory.

The extensive socioeconomic, cultural, and environmental disaster caused by Rayaale in the Somali North, and his regime´s overwhelming rejection by the local populations constitute a strong reason for any act undertaken to eliminate the Hargeisa chief thug and gangster.

Somalia: Plea over water scarcity in Sool region

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=84326

Las´anod, 11 May 2009 (IRIN) - Authorities in the town of Las'anod in the disputed region of Sool have appealed for help in providing safe drinking water for the town's residents.

Both the self-declared republic of Somaliland and the self-declared autonomous region of Puntland claim Sool and Sanaag regions.

"We call upon the government, UN agencies, as well as international aid organisations, to help us search for solutions to the town's water supply problems," Mohamed Mohamoud Ali, secretary of the town's local government, which is loyal to Somaliland, said.

He told IRIN many residents were suffering as water prices had reached a record high.

"A barrel of water was just 30,000 Somali shillings [US$1] the other day but it has reached 80,000 Somali Shillings [$2.20] in less than two months," he said.

The situation, he said, was due to a prevailing drought that has hit Sool, "where animals have now started dying for lack of pasture and water".

Ali said the town previously had a water well but it has fallen into disrepair and been closed for the past three years.

"Since Somaliland's authority replaced the Puntland administration of the town, several attempts to dig more water wells have been made but they have yet to be fruitful."

Somaliland took control of the area from Puntland on 15 October 2007 in fierce fighting.

He said local people blamed Somaliland authorities for closing the only well in the town without providing a replacement.

"The town's residents drink water trucked from a well in Hawd berkedis [to the south of the town]," Ali said.

Faisal Jama, a journalist based in Las´anod, said: "They [Somaliland authorities] closed the town's well, saying its water was salty and [promising] to dig a new one. They have dug in several places but none has potable water."

The water problem in the town has been aggravated by poor rainfall.

"We are worried about the availability of water and the rising prices of the commodity; the current price of 80,000 Somali shillings a barrel for water is out of most people´s reach," Said Samira Yusuf, a resident, said.

"The town's residents had moved to different areas such as Hargeisa [the Somaliland capital], Garowe [Puntland's capital], the port city of Kismayo, south of Somalia, Nairobi [Kenya], and Ethiopia," Asha Ahmed, a resident of Las´anod, said.

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Somalia: Pastoralists hardest-hit by drought in Somaliland

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=84361

Erigavo, 13 May 2009 (IRIN) - A severe drought that has gripped Somaliland's Sanag region in the past months has hit pastoralists hardest, with hundreds of families moving to urban centres after their animals died, officials said.

"We estimate that up to 400 families [2,400 people] have been displaced to Erigavo [the region's capital], after they lost their animals in the recent drought," Yasin H Nour, the mayor of Erigavo, told IRIN.

"Hundreds of families are now in a serious situation due to the drought that has hit the region. Their cattle and donkeys have already died; now their camels and sheep are dying daily," he added.

The drought has also affected regions surrounding Sanag in both Somaliland and the self-declared autonomous region of Puntland.

The region has suffered consecutive rainfall failure in the past three years.

Officials in the El-Afweyn, Hulul and Dararweyne districts of Sanag said 60 percent of pastoralists' animals had died in the drought.

The most affected areas are in the eastern regions of Sool, Sanag and Togdheer, according to Mursal Askar Mire, the mayor of El-Afweyn district.

"WFP [UN World Food Programme] and its partners used to supply food to the district and other rural surroundings but they stopped at the beginning of this year," Mire said. "Now the situation has deteriorated and the people are facing shortages of food and water."

Mahamud Hassan "Guled", senior public information assistant, WFP Somalia, told IRIN: "We have no relief operations at the moment due to the last FSAU [Food Security Assessment Unit/Food and Agriculture Organization Somalia] assessment, which did not warrant any relief programmes. WFP distributed 86 metric tonnes of food to 5,064 people in the district four months ago before the FSAU assessment."

Disease threats

Salah Yusuf, the mayor of Dararweyne, said the nearest water point in some areas was about 120-130km away, while most animals could only walk about 60km a day.

Yusuf and Mire called for help, saying Dararweyne was the worst-affected district.

"We are calling on the government of Somaliland, as well as the international community, to come to the aid of the people hit by the drought in the districts of El-Afweyn, Gar-adag, Hulul and Dararweyne," the mayors said.

Yusuf said: "About 40 families [200 people] have moved to urban areas of Dararweyne District after they lost all their animals and, last week, 20 people were hospitalized for diarrhea.

"The problem is not only lack of food and water but also some diseases have erupted in the areas, such as malaria, flu and diarrhea."

Trucking water

Ahmed-Kayse Hussein Mohamed, a data collection officer with Candle Light, a local NGO, said a team toured the remote areas of the affected districts on 10 May and found hundreds of families who had moved out of their home areas to the urban centre of El-Afweyn after losing all their animals.

Mayor Nour said the local government was trucking water to some of the affected areas in the district.

"We send eight to 10 water trucks daily to the remote areas of Erigavo, particularly the areas to the southeast and southwest of the district," Nour said.

Local officials said if the rains - expected any time now – are delayed, more pastoralists would lose their last remaining animals.

"We are worried that if the rains do not start in coming weeks, more animals may die, and even if the rains start, we fear the animals may not adapt well to the wet conditions because there is no pasture," Nour said.

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Somalia: Somaliland clans in ceasefire over disputed farmland

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=84466

Kalabait, 20 May 2009 (IRIN) - Two clans in Somaliland's Elberdale farmland in Gabiley region, who have fought intermittently in the past five months over disputed farmland, have agreed a ceasefire, a mediator said.

Mohamed-Weli Warsame, a member of the Somaliland's Guurti mediation committee, told IRIN on 17 May that 25 elders from each clan had sworn to end fighting and to reconcile the two clans.

However, talks aimed at resolving the dispute, which started in mid-April between the Hared and the Nour clans, are ongoing in Kalabait.

The government sent military and police troops to Elberdale last month in a bid to stop the fighting.

On 14 May, elders visited patients admitted to hospital in Gabiley and Dila areas who had been injured in previous fighting over the Elberdale farmland.

"We went to Gabiley Hospital and to Dila Hospital to see all those who were injured in the conflict; we also ascertained the number of those who have died," Aden Elabe, one of the elders, told IRIN.

Elabe said the team of elders also visited areas where farmers from Elberdale had fled, such as Geed Diqsi, Jaldhabaha, Satile and Da'walay, to reassure them the conflict would be resolved.

However, local officials have expressed concern over farmers missing the present planting season.

Elabe Mohamoud Hufane, the mayor of Dila district in Awdal region, said: "This is the season when farmers grow sorghum and maize but here in Dila district, we have more than 120 families who fled the conflict in early April and are yet to return to their farms in Burdi and Geed Diqsi areas."

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Somalia: Seeking alternatives to charcoal in Somaliland

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=84568

Hargeisa, 27 May 2009 (IRIN) - Insufficient cheaper alternatives and a large former refugee population are fuelling tree-felling and dependence on charcoal in the self-declared republic of Somaliland, adversely affecting the environment, say analysts.

Most urban households use charcoal for everyday cooking. "We use a sack of charcoal every four days because our family is large," said Zahra Omar, a mother of 12, in the capital, Hargeisa.

According to a 2007 study by the Academy for Peace and Development, more than 2.5 million trees are felled annually and burned for charcoal in Somaliland. The report stated that each household in Somaliland consumed an equivalent of 10 trees a month.

Deforestation exacerbates soil erosion and reduces rainfall availability. Trees are also important in carbon fixing - reducing the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

Despite charcoal prices going up since 1991 with the resettlement of former refugees, demand remains high. "Before, 10 years ago, one sack of charcoal [cost] only 5,000 Somaliland shillings [US$0.76] but now here in Hargeisa it is about Sh30,000 [$5]," said Nimo Ahmed, a resident. "When [it] rains... charcoal [becomes] more expensive... because [the] trees become wet."

Wood for energy

High and rising gas prices have also encouraged charcoal use. Previously, Nimo said, gas was cheaper than charcoal but the price has increased dramatically, with one liter of gas now costing about Sh4,000 ($0.61) up from Sh1,500 ($0.23).

It is the preferred fuel even in hotels, which consume even larger quantities of the commodity. "I use a sack of charcoal for a day's cooking," said Anab Mohamed Ismail, a Hargeisa chef.

According to researchers, one of the main drivers of deforestation in Africa is the need for fuel.

In sub-Saharan Africa only 7.5 percent of the rural population has access to electricity, according to a 2009 report on the state of the world's forests. "As household incomes and investment in appropriate alternatives remain low, wood is likely to remain an important energy source in Africa in the coming decades..." it stated.

Forecasts made in 2001 suggested a 34 percent increase in wood fuel consumption from 2000 to 2020. "However, the rise in fuel prices in the past two years suggests that this increase is likely to be even greater. The share of wood fuel in the total energy supply is likely to decline, but the absolute number of people dependent on wood energy is predicted to grow," it stated. "The forest situation in Africa presents enormous challenges, reflecting the larger constraints of low income, weak policies and inadequately developed institutions."

"Charcoal... demand is increasing daily and burning [of] trees is increasing... but we are trying to [encourage] awareness among the people and give them other sources of income," said Abdirisaq Bashir, the emergency and environment coordinator of Candlelight, an NGO working in environmental management. The NGO is helping young people become involved in alternative activities such as bee-keeping.

Trade ban

Local environmentalists are worried that the trade in charcoal may wipe out some tree species. "One of the ... trees used for charcoal [production] is [the] Acacia bussei tree. Unfortunately its type is now going to be [extinct] in the Somaliland territories," said Bashir. Each tree produces about eight to 10 sacks of charcoal.

Concerned with the impact of charcoal-burning on the environment, Hargeisa´s regional governor, Maroodi Jeeh, on 30 April banned trade in charcoal and the burning of trees.

Other attempts at protecting the environment have included the introduction of solar cookers and gas stoves in the main urban centers of Burou, Las-anod, Gabiley, Wajalea and Borama.

Since January, Somgas Company has been supplying gas to residents. "We have different gas cylinders [which] we sell... and train [the public on] how to use," said Subeir Mouse Abdi of Somgas. An ordinary household uses an 11kg cylinder for six weeks, according to Abdi.

Although initial gas and cylinder prices are high, an 11kg gas cylinder and gas costs $44.50 and is recharged at $19. This, he said, is not expensive compared with the monthly charcoal consumption of about $15 for three 20kg sacks of charcoal per household. The gas cylinders range from 2-22kg.

"We now have 600 customers since we started in January," he said.

While charcoal consumption fell in 2008 compared with 2007, there is still cause for concern, according to Somaliland's Ministry of Pastoral Development and Environment.

"We are concerned [about the] environmental degradation caused by the charcoal, and we are working with several organizations to search [for] alternatives [to] charcoal energy," said Mohamoud Ibrahim Mohamoud, head of the forestry section in the ministry. "The problem that increases... forest burning for charcoal is the poverty in the countryside and the high demand [for] charcoal energy in the urban [areas]."

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Note

Picture: An image equals 1000 words; this is the real picture of the secessionist territory of Somaliland, and only to this tragic situation was tyrant Rayaale able to lead his unrecognized pseudo-country. That´s why he has to be eliminated by all means and at all costs.