The African Star

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A new scramble for Somaliland's rich resources? Residents of the mineral rich eastern Somaliland complain that their resources are being plundered by foreigners.             By  Mustafe Adam Musse -- Somaliland Somaliland is a fresh country. It has its natural resources, such as: crude oil, natural gas, minerals and historical artifacts. It was once colonized by the  British. Some people accuse  some humanitarian agencies in Somaliland  of a hidden agenda to collect Somaliland resources behind the scene.   On March 2007, I accompanied a delegation of at least 18 Ministries, 30 International Agencies and mass media representatives traveling to the eastern regions of the country. The mission of this delegation was to assess needs of the Somaliland eastern region communities. I was reporting for a private local TV (Hargeisa Cable TV).   We visited four region: 1- Saaxil 2- Sool 3- Sanaag and 4- Tog-dheer Eastern regions are the largest of the six Somaliland regions. It took three days of traveling from Hargeisa to Erigavo (The Headquarter of Sanaag region). We covered at least 2000km, since the road was too rough. The land we covered is rich in  natural resources, such as minerals, Beeyo, fish, agriculture and also livestock.  But unfortunately the people did not have the basic needs such as: pure water, health facilities, education, security, for services because the  government administration is not effective in some areas.     I also observed that there is no  Somaliland currency in Sanaag and Sool regions, whilst other regions use Somaliland shillings. People in this part of the country use Somali shillings in their business, because they do not having adequate Somaliland shillings. Therefore if you will arrive at Buroa, headquarters of Tog-dheer region you have to exchange Somaliland currency with Somali Shillings otherwise you cannot buy or sell anything.   On the way I met traditional elders whom i interviewed about their living conditions. “We are ok, we use our muscles, but we need the government and the international society to protect our natural resources.” Ismail Dad-qal (One of the Elders) said. “Every Week or month I find a helicopter digging our minerals in the mountains. Therefore, we need a well trained army that can catch these Helicopters easily while we are on our way to recognition,” He added.