Somalia: Tension in Bossaso between administration, business community

[N.O.R.F]

Somalia: Tension in Bossaso between administration, business community

 

BOSSASO, Somalia May 26 (Garowe Online) - Political tensions were high in Bossaso on Saturday after representatives of a Saudi Arabian company arrived in town, sources said.

 

The representatives of al-Jabberi company were welcomed at the Bossaso airport by Puntland President Mohamud "Adde" Muse under tight security, witnesses reported.

 

Inside sources said the delegation, which also included officials from Raysul Khaymah (UAE), did not include any high-ranking company officials.

 

There were confirmed reports that a letter was sent from Bossaso to al-Jabberi headquarters yesterday warning the company about investing in Puntland.

 

According to our sources, the letter was sent by a new group that calls itself "Puntland Hope," which includes unnamed business interests based in the port city of Bossaso.

 

This group is opposed to the al-Jabberi deal, which President Muse signed last month giving the Arabian company the exclusive right to export Puntland livestock to the Middle East and beyond for the next 15 years.

 

There are ongoing meetings in Bossaso where businesspeople are increasingly voicing their rejection of the al-Jabberi deal, which they say gives a foreign company monopoly over the most important sector of the Somali economy.

 

An elder in Bossaso who did not wish to be named told Garowe Online that the dispute between the Puntland administration and the business community might soon turn violent if something is not done about it immediately.

 

Since his election in 2005, Puntland's business-friendly President Muse has signed onto controversial foreign deals, including an exploration deal that led to violent clashes between security forces and armed villagers in March 2006.

 

Source: Garowe Online