Tuesday November 19, 2019
MOGADISHU (HOL) - Somali government has denied claims the Italian government has held back €6 million meant for rehabilitation of Shabelle river banks over failure to submit funding proposals.
Planning Minister Gamal Hassan said in a tweet Tuesday both governments were still discussing the project and that the project proposals have been submitted.“The FGS & the Italian Gov’t have been discussing the possibility of providing support for a flood protection project. The project proposal has been submitted to the Italian Gov’t for their considerations & the discussions r still ongoing. No project has been approved/signed so far,” the Minister said.
The Minister’s remarks follow media reports that the Italian government had withheld the funds following failure by the Ministry of Agriculture to submit the proposals in time for funding.
The Italian publication la Republica reported Monday the funds had been rescheduled for spending in 2020 following delays by the Federal Government.
The funds according to the publication were meant to rehabilitate the banks of Shabelle river to prevent recurrent floods which has in the last one month displaced over 200,000 people.