MN: Puntland Diaspors Forum Annual conference 9-11 October

[General Duke]

[General Duke]

Shir sannadeedka Golaha Gurbajoogta Puntland oo lagu qaban doono St. Paul/Minneapolis.

 

Minneapolis, Sept 24 - Golaha Qurbajoogta Puntland ayaa shir sannadeedkiisa 2009 ku qabanaya St. Paul/Minneapolis, Oct 9 - 11.

 

Shir sannadeedka golaha ayaa waxaa ka soo qayb gali doona wafti ka kooban wasiiro oo ka socda dawlada Puntland, wufuud matalaysa cutubyada golaha ee dunida, wakiilo ka socda bulshada rayadka ah, ashkhaas iyo hay'ado daneeya shu'uunta Somal ... [...]

[Cowke]

Good luck to the puntland diaspora lobby in america, who i am aware has influence within Puntland political circles at home.

 

Healthcare and education are two areas that need be in the government hand. They have introduced social welfare which is promising start.

 

Health and education at the moment is public and private partnership. The Puntland government should thrive to make sure that health and education are dominated by it's administration so it can make sure it reaches all people regardless of people background or income.

 

Domestic and foreign investments should be allowed to continue with little regulation. Farole unfortunately has been regulating it to much and choking this crucial aspect of our economy by so called "reviews". He needs to not fall into the trap of hargeisa who have choked themselves out with red-tape and regulation that noone bothers investing there anymore.

 

We must have an environment that is open to business, regulations that are balanced and not punishing prospective investors with un-necessary red-tape. We must guarantee our work-force some protection of course with basic employment standards however other then that I don't necessarly see the point for any tightening of regulations.

 

Puntland is rebuilding, therefore we can't be picky yet. We must let the businesses come first and do whatever they want. Once we have a strong base of companies on our shores, then we will start being picky and applying regulation measures.

 

I hope the puntland diaspora tapes this meeting and uploads it on youtube, because i will definitely watch it.

[General Duke]

This will be a big event inshaAllah, there has been a great dal of change over the past few years. The Puntland identity has grown in importance within the Diaspora. So far the PDF is doing a good job.

[NASSIR]

It will be interesting to hear the key speakers.

[Liibaan]

 

It is good that PCF selected my avatar

 

True it will be very interesting to hear them

 

Puntland diaspora have a critical role to play in their homeland, so this gathering is an important milestone

 

Puntland waa gobolka kaliya ee Somalia katirsan oo ee wali ku hadhay ama aad ka dareemasid somalinimo, midnimo, nabad , horumar, etc

 

waxaa kuu dheer calankii soomaaliyeed oo cirka ka babanayo si sharafi iyo karaamo ku jirtu

 

Puntland waa tusaale fiican, Allah baa weyn ee haa u siyaadiyo, dhamaan gobolada kalena ee dalkeena somalia ha gaadhsiiyo nabad, horumer, somalinimo, iyo midnimo

 

Calanka madow, ka iran ee cagaarka iyo casaanka isku jira, iyo ka AU afrikaanka intaba loogma baahna Somalia

[General Duke]

Nicely put. The Diaspora meeting should be an interesting indicator of what the PDF stands for.

[Dhuujiye]

I think this is good start for puntlanders.

[NASSIR]

"Puntland needs good institutions, not intentions"

 

I like this statement.

 

Btw, Eng. Hamud's sister, Yasmiin, is about to release a great book this fall. Nomad's Diary

[General Duke]

^^^Hamud is a nice fella, thats why I like this group above all others, they are led by forward thinking individuals.

[Fiqikhayre]

We need that lobby greatly and I welcome its timely ascend.

 

The PDF is a realisation born out of the diaspora's maturing and the loyalty and affection it shows to the state. Where previously they were not concerned or not coordinated it seems this time, the people now associate themselves more and more with the state rather than the country previously.

 

It seems the diaspora have arrived at a threshold and are ready to cross it now in order to go further and beyond where as previously many of the state's diaspora considered themselves as afraid to show their allegiance to it lest they be viewed as 'taking sides' with their own.

 

That's why Puntland diaspora has failed in so many aspects. They have not fulfilled their potential yet, the same goes for the state. It has always been a case of 'what might others think' and considerations that were not there. A fear of becoming a 'militant' and advocate for ones region, which in the eyes of other Somalis might look like as joining ones own and thus doing injustice to other Somalis.

 

After Abdullahi Yusuf left, many people who were always very harsh to their own realised, that supporting ones region is not a bad 'practise' only 'clannish' people engage in but that one has not to be fearful of others looking and judging one.

 

When Faroole came to London a mix of people who would previously not attend have come to hear their 'Leader' and 'President' speak, which was something totally new. People were the first time not ashamed in supporting the state and the moral dilemma many had just evaporated.

 

The theme nevertheless was not surprising, it had focused on many things and many Somalis not Puntlanders were invited to the event. Our people and I speak of the ordinary men and women despise talk of any that might be seem as inflammatory and unbecoming. No Somali of another region or entity were bad mouthed or spoken bad against as it is against the very nature of the majority of the people from Puntland.

 

The dislike of music was clear and what was deemed as inappropriate were not much applauded by the attendees but old classics were.

 

A great amount of 'religious' constituent were present in the gathering for the first time than the usual 'firm' and staunch supporters who it seemed made a life out of such occasions and no longer can live without it.

 

Thus I noticed that the brand was always there but that it has now a more universal reach and even people such as our resident xiinfaniin no longer shy away from showing flag.

 

It's only a matter of time before the 'regional' identification takes root in the 'diaspora' and the notion of Puntlander gets adopted with all its marsk and symbols.

 

The people are no longer afraid of showing flag and identifying themselves with their origins. Indeed we have come a long way.

 

I who was ahead of that development has again jumped a leap or two forward and no longer consider myself in terms of clans and thus have adopted the notion of Somali Puntlander.

 

I cannot consider mine anything apart of it and hence cannot go back. I have crossed a mile stone, I believe.

[Cowke]

Congratulation aw muse ismacil. I personally was kind of like that also and used to shy away from embracing puntland for fear of what others may think.

 

I however started studying about puntland and found out how much work has been going on there is absolutely amazing. Today i pride myself with puntland as a state that is actually moving to places and i must say the oil factor also pushed me over as i saw that it was actually being explored and equipments are being docked down and etc.

 

Today there is nothing to shy away from being puntland its multi-tribal area and not one tribe as many ppl would love to say. Today if i say i am from puntland they won't know which clan i am unless they specifically ask because look at ilkajir he is from puntland not to mention goldogob and burtinle ppl who are from other tribes. And bossaso natives are different.

 

So yes puntland is moving forward, their are many places it needs to fix which will take time because it wont happen overnight.

 

ppl who pay taxes to puntland require puntland to provide it with the basic services it requires for its town. The basics i mean by: security(police), health, education, and foreign investments. These domains are government domains and not public domains. The public domain is areas like private investments by locals, community organizations, volunteer works, etc.

 

So their needs to be split down the middle of defining what is government role and what is public role. I find many puntland ppl say "every city should look after itself" which is true in essence in areas like development and private investment. However this is not true in the basic services like health, security, and foreign investments. These are domains that are within the government and they can't turn around point the finger to the community and say "isku tasho" because what will happen then is: why do i have to pay taxes to puntland for if they won't provide me the basic services an administration should be providing.

 

So their needs to be areas like that which are clearly defined so everyone knows what is expected from them.

 

Other then that every thing seems to going good so far, and lets hope it goes even further.

 

It will be also interesting to see what institution they set up for oil management and development, i suggest they send a few representatives to dubai to see how dubai manages its oil production and how they diversify into other growth sectors. Growth sectors in puntland are tourism because its just totally unexploited the beautiful beaches.

 

Can u imagine a tourist diving in the morning on the indian ocean at beyla or hafun or gara'ad or eyl? and then taking a camel trek thru karkaar mountains and camping in calmadow? these are the sorts of things the oil revenue can open up for puntland.

 

We can invest into hotels on the beaches of eyl, beyla, hafun, gara'ad with that oil money and create thousands of jobs for the ppl. industries like restaurants, hotels, taxis, will just skyrocket and ppl of those coastal areas will have supplement income thru fishing also.

 

Not to mention the thousands of jobs the navy base will create for the coastal communities that was agreed upon in galkacyo.

 

That is my input, but definitely will find it interesting to see how they manage the oil sector and what they end up doing with the money.

 

Ps: today we are puntlanders i don't mind, but the second we enter opec state we are "puntish" as in "finnish".

[GAAROODI]

looool, best of luck to you, i sure hope the people of people see it as you see it.