“Had you come a day earlier, you’d have seen us loading camels onto
ships heading to the Middle East. Somalia as a whole has the world’s
largest number of camels, at six million,” said Ali Esmail Mahmoud, Head
of Operations at DP World Berbera, as he took visiting journalists on a
tour of the port.
“Since DP World took over the running of the port, there have been
many changes,” Mahmoud said. “We’ve added a lot of equipment. We’ve
ordered three mobile harbour cranes. Six reach stakers have been added,
with three more on the way, along with empty container handlers, mobile
cranes, internal terminal vehicles and forklifts.”
He also said the port was using a new software, Sodiaz, which is also used in many other DP World ports.
“People were trained on the software outside the country, including in Thailand.”
In 2016, the Somaliland parliament voted in favour of granting DP
World, the world’s fourth biggest port operator, a 30-year concession
with an automatic 10-year extension for the management and development
of the port at Berbera, in a move not recognised by the Federal Republic
of Somalia.
As per the deal, DP World will invest $442 million (Dh1.62 billion)
in the port, controlling a 51 per cent stake in the project while the
Somaliland government will control 30 per cent.
As part of another deal announced last month, Ethiopia will become a 19 per cent stake holder in the port.
That deal was also bitterly opposed by the Somali government in Mogadishu.
Speaking to journalists, Somaliland’s Foreign Minister Dr Sa’ad Ali
Shire said no one had the authority to interfere in a deal between
Somaliland and DP World.
“This is an economic and commercial deal that will benefit everyone
in the Horn of Africa region. Somalia’s claims are baseless, and don’t
change anything on the ground.”
Somaliland is a self-declared independent republic that is not
recognised by the international community but has all the trappings of a
state, including its own parliament, judiciary, currency and armed
forces. It also holds elections that are seen as being free and fair,
and issues its own passports. The government of the region sees
Somaliland as the successor state to the colonial-era British
Protectorate of Somaliland. Somaliland is also far more politically and
economically stable than Somalia.
The port provides jobs to 780 local people. And has clearly benefited
the economy of the region; the construction sector has been given a
fillip due to the planned expansions and improvements already made to
the port. “Land in the area is also going up in value,” Mahmoud said.
“The infrastructure in the region is improving and many companies are
coming here to do business.”
The port’s annual capacity is 150,000 TEUs-twenty-foot equivalent
units (container); 15 million MT (general cargo, bulk, ad break bulk);
and 4 millon heads (livestock).
DP World Berbera also provides assistance to the tune of $4800 a
month to the nearby Berbera Maritime and Fisheries Academy, which was
established in 2012 and has graduated 85 students, including 12 women.
The port has also donated $770,181 in the past 12 months to educational
institutions, mosques and hospitals in the region and built five water
wells for the community.
Mahmoud added: “We are currently working on a three-phase basis:
Phase zero, phase one, and phase two. As part of phase zero, we are
developing the existing terminal. We’ve made many changes, including to
infrastructure, electricity, training facilities etc. Phase one begins
in five months, and is expected to be completed in 2020.”
Source: Gulf New
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