The President of the Republic of Somaliland HE Muse Bihi Abdi attended the groundbreaking ceremony of the 22.5 kilometer Hargeisa Bypass Road funded by UKAID. The bypass is expected to alleviate congestion from commercial traffic from the Berbera Corridor by swinging traffic to the north of the capital city of Hargeisa and rejoining the main Hargeisa – Wajale highway.
Berbera – Hargeisa highway known as Berbera Corridor is currently under construction and is funded by the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development as part of the DP World Berbera port expansion project.
“We need to put our minds together to build roads, we are grateful to Allah for the help we are getting, but we too can build more roads, and I would like to suggest to the business community and the wealthy in the country that they can build the road from Burao to Hargeisa,” said President Bihi.
President Bihi stressed the need for a better road network in Somaliland and invited the business community to invest in highways, and briefly touched on the possibility of tall roads to encourage private investment in transportation network development.
At the end of his speech, the President who recently visited the Hargeisa main bridge which has sustained an unspecified damage from the recent floods said that the expertise and equipment for the Hargeisa bypass project should be utilized to fix the Hargeisa bridge.
Among the dignitaries that attended the groundbreaking ceremony was Taiwan Ambassador to Somaliland Mr. Allen C. Lou, the newly appointed Director of UAE Trade office in Somaliland Mr. Abdullah Muhammad Al Naqbi, and the British Ambassador Kate Foster, the UK Ambassador to Somalia who is on her first official visit to Somaliland since taking over from Ambassador Ben Fender in February 2021.
“We are proud to support the Hargeisa bypass, which is a crucial part of the Berbera corridor. Once this 240 km project – in coordination with our Abu Dhabi and European partners – is completed late next year, it will improve the lives of hundreds of thousands of people by creating jobs, unlocking the region’s economic potential, and ease the delivery of humanitarian supplies.” the UK Ambassador said.
The Hargeisa bypass road is slated to be completed in 22 according to the Berbera Corridor Project Manager Mr. Angus Miller who spoke at the event.
Besides the Hargeisa bypass project, the President addressed opposition parties’ concern of candidate detention and urged patience and trust in the rule of law to ensure the process runs its course and that no candidate will be prevented from running for office if exonerated of charges. Opposition parties have accused the government and the ruling Kulmiye party of deliberately targeting their candidates to prevent them from participating in the elections. The local and parliamentary elections are scheduled for May 31st.
