Hiiraan Online
By Shafi’i Mohyaddin
Monday, January 27, 2014
The United Arab Emirates is planning to extend its development programs to Somalia as part of the Gulf nation’s humanitarian assistance to Somalia. The announcement was made by Somali minister of Interior and Federalism Abdullahi Godah Barre and the UAE ambassador to Somalia Mohamed Al Osmani.
At a joint press conference here in Mogadishu on Monday, the minister said that the UAE government was in the final process of implementing key development projects in the country with particular focus placed on the of the former Al Shabab strongholds in a bid to help inhabitants in the regions recover from years of setbacks caused by Al shabab’s hard-line rule.
“The development projects will be carried out in 10 more districts in the country and under the project five key facilities will be built for each district. Those facilities include schools, police stations, municipal compounds, healthy centers and children playground” the minister of Interior and Federalism Abdullahi Godah Barre told Monday’s press conference.
“UAE assistance is important for us in terms of helping the needy Somali people” the minister said adding that there was a historic bilateral cooperation between Somalia and the UAE.
The minister noted that both countries (Somalia and UAE) have shared joint co-operations in the fields of religion, economy and the political affairs adding that his government was vehemently lauding for the extension of the UAE’s assistance to Somalia.
For his part, the UAE ambassador to Somalia Mohamed Al Osmani said that Somalia and the United Arab Emirates share long-existed brotherly relations and because of the bilateral relations his government was interested in carrying out such development projects in the country.
“Today, I am very happy to announce that the UAE government will implement huge development projects in Somalia—the projects will be carried out in 10 districts in the country as soon as possible” the ambassador explained during Monday’s press conference in Mogadishu.
The UAE diplomat said that the first phase of the development projects will be carried out in the districts of Merka, Afgoye, Jowhar and Baidoa.
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