Harrow Council proposes twinning with Somaliland capital Hargeisa

[Jacaylbaro]

HARROW Council is considering twinning with a Somali city despite Foreign Office warnings not to travel to the country.

 

The authority will consider the feasibility of a relationship with ten towns and cities around the world, including Hargeisa capital of the country's autonomous area Somaliland.

 

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) website states: “We advise against all travel to Somalia, including Somaliland. “In the Southern and Central regions, there is ongoing serious violence, dangerous levels of criminal activity and general internal insecurity. We advise any British citizens in Somalia to leave.”

 

It adds: “There is no British representation in any part of Somalia and we are unable to provide consular assistance there.”

 

Council representatives and school children have made many visits to Douai, the region of France that the authority is currently partnered with.

 

But Councillor Nana Asante (Lab/Edgware), who proposed the motion, said the borough could forge a relationship with the new twin cities without anyone visiting, using internet sites like Skype which allow video calls.

 

She said: “With technology now we don't need to physically visit a place to be having exchanges with it. We need to be valuing the countries of origin that our residents come from.

 

“Instead of looking at what can't be done let's look at what can be done.”

 

Cllr Asante said she believes the FCO advice will change as time goes on and said twinning was a long term objective.

 

Councillor Susan Hall, leader of the Tory group, said she was apoplectic and her group would have voted down the motion had they not been outnumbered on the council.

 

She said: “Why are we even thinking of linking with places that the Government are telling us not to go to.

 

“These loony left councillors, all they want to do is start going on freebies and going abroad. Conservatives are 100 per cent against this and would have voted it out completely.”

 

Cllr Asante said: “The Conservatives always think about money. They know the price of everything and the value of nothing.

 

“We are not thinking of spending money right now, we are thinking about doing it using technology. The Conservatives don't understand community. I don't think we can take lessons from them.”

 

Somaliland is considered separate to the rest of the country, lying by itself in the north while the most serious violence takes place in the southern and central regions.

 

But there is still tension on its border with the Puntland region and there was a terrorist attack near a mosque in Laas Caanood which killed four policemen and severely injured two others on January 25, this year.

 

Three blasts in Hargeisa tore through the United Nations Development Programme office, the Ethiopian Trade Office and the President’s villa on October 29, 2008, killing an unknown number of people.

 

The other nine towns and cities proposed are: Balakot, Bhuj, Broken Hill, Pattan, Port au Prince, Kingston, La, Tilburg and Tel Aviv.

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Harrow Somali group HASVO applaud idea of twinning with Hargeisa in Somaliland

 

A SOMALI community group has backed suggestions that Harrow Council look into twinning with the capital of Somaliland.

 

Last week Labour councillors voted through a motion calling for the borough to explore the possibility of forming a partnership with more foreign towns and cities, including Hargeisa in the autonomous region of Somalia.

 

The move stirred criticism from the Tory opposition who point to the Foreign Office advice warning against travel to the area and say the council cannot afford the expense.

 

Yusuf Yusuf, youth coordinator at the Harrow Association of Somali Voluntary Organisations (HASVO), defended the motion, pointing to Henley-on-Thames which has been twinned with Boroma, in Somaliland, since 1981.

 

He said “I would like to take this opportunity to applaud Councillor Nana Asante for proposing the capital city of Somaliland, Hargeisa, as a potential twinning city of Harrow.

 

“As a British Somali, originally from Hargeisa, and having recently participated in the Harrow twinning programming with Douai, I feel that Hargeisa would have benefited a great deal from this.

 

“I am also of the view that developing countries would be the first to gain from the support of a twin city.”

 

He added: “I am also disappointed that the current leader of the Conservative Party, a party who was a very strong supporter of the Somali community during the previous administration felt that this motion needed to be dismissed without a proper discussion.”

 

Cllr Asante (Lab/Edgware) last week told the Harrow Times the council could forge a partnership with foreign cities, without spending too much money, by using internet website such as Skype.

 

Nasir Diriye and Abdi Musa, directors of Harrow group Youth Foundation Services, both originally from Hargeisa, said it was a nice idea but thought the council should focus its limited resources on helping people in the borough.

 

Mr Dariye said: “It's good that Harrow is thinking internationally but we would like to see taxpayers money invested on the streets of Harrow.”

 

The other nine towns and cities proposed are: Balakot, Bhuj, Broken Hill, Pattan, Port au Prince, Kingston, La, Tilburg and Tel Aviv.

 

Leading Labour councillors will get another opportunity to vote on the motion when it comes to their cabinet committee for approval.

 

Councillor Bill Stephenson, leader of the council, last week said: “To clarify what happened at the council meeting, there was a discussion about the possibility of expanding town twinning as part of a much larger motion.

 

“This is merely a recommendation to cabinet and not a formal decision by the council.

 

“We think it’s important our residents can maintain links with their homelands and use them to boost trade, support local business and promote Harrow’s culture.

 

“These links aren’t about staging fancy visits. We will build friendships online or using modern technology. Our role as a council is to facilitate links, not run them.

 

“We hope our links with these places, some of them in the poorest or most deprived parts of the world, can bring benefits to the people who live there.”

[Jacaylbaro]

Tories: Harrow Council twinning motion passed by Labour 'without discussion'

 

A TORY councillor has accused Labour of passing a motion on twinning with more towns and cities “without discussion”.

 

The pledge calls for the authority to explore the possibility of developing partnerships with more foreign cities and specifically mentions ten, including Hargeisa, in Somaliland.

 

It does not bind the council into twinning with more areas, and will still have to go before the cabinet committee when leading Labour councillors will have another opportunity to vote on it.

 

Councillor Susan Hall, leader of the Conservative Group, says any move to twin with other areas, beyond the current agreement with Douai, would be a waste of taxpayers money.

 

Yusuf Yusuf, of Harrow Association of Somali Voluntary Organisations (HASVO), has accused her of dismissing the proposals without proper discussion.

 

She said: “I’m afraid Mr. Yusuf has been misinformed. The Conservative group wanted to extend the council meeting to properly debate this motion, but we were voted down by Labour who passed it without discussion.

 

“At a time when sensible spending in local government is an absolute necessity, the Council simply cannot afford to expand its twinning operations as it costs money whether we visit these countries or not.”

 

But Councillor Bill Stephenson, leader of the council, defended the way the motion was dealt with, saying the meeting had come to an end and there was no time for a debate.

 

He insisted twinning could be achieved without spending tax payers' money.

 

He said: “It's an idea and it so far hasn't been agreed. I'm pleased to hear that some groups are supportive of it.

 

“We don't want it to be a party political thing we want to be very open about local residents and whether they want to twin.

 

“Certainly the idea it's going to cost any money is not an issue because it won't.”