By: Goth Mohamed Goth
Hargeisa (THT) The Vice President His Excellency Abdurrahman Abdullah Ismail Seili’i together with the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Hon Hussein Abdi Dualeh jointly preceded over the ground breaking ceremony and the laying of the foundation for an ultra-modern Ministry of Energy and Minerals headquarters during a well-attended ceremony .
Honorable Hussein Abdi Dualeh , Somaliland Minister of Energy and Minerals speaking during the ceremony said , “I Very happy today to see the moment has come for the Ministry of Energy and Minerals Resources to finally get a new Headquarters , all this comes after a long wait combined by hard work and much persuasion which we finally succeeded in convincing the multinational companies to assist in contributing the funds for the construction of the new ministry headquarters and on behalf of the people of Somaliland , I say once again thank you for generosity.
“As you all are aware of our national budget is slim and not to forget that other ministries had also their applications for construction of new headquarters in the pipeline waiting to be processed and considering the fact the former premises housing the previous headquarters ministry of energy was constructed at a time when we were still a British colony that what prompted us to find other sources of funds hence our appeal to the multi nationals to assist us in this endeavors and being our partners they wholeheartedly agreed to support us by contributing the funds”, he said.
Hon Hussein Abdi Dualeh added, “Today we gather here to witness history because the ground breaking ceremony symbolizes a transition period the demolished premises will be replaced by a new ultra-modern building which will be built by the construction firm which won the bidding process of which we (Ministry of Energy and Minerals Resources) had no say in the bidding process and selection in any way whatsoever because the whole was the process was being monitored by the National Tender Board.
“I would also like to use this opportunity to thank “RIO Architects” the firm responsible the design and also laud Mr. Mohamed Bashir, the architect for ingenuity presenting us with his innovating design for the proposed building which will house the new Ministry of Energy and Minerals, I believe meets international standards”, he concluded.
Vice President His Excellency Abdurrahman Abdullah Ismail “Saylici” speaking during the ground breaking ceremony began by saying, “First and foremost I would like on behalf of the people and government of Somaliland to thank all those partner companies which have contributed the funds towards this project and of which through their generosity and I would like to commend the efforts asserted by all the Ministry of Energy and Minerals Resources officials starting by the Minister himself who apart from being one of the most diligent civil servants in the country; I must reckon the sacrifices he made in making realization became a reality.
The funds were availed by oil exploration companies namely RAKGAS , DNO, JACKA RESOU RCES,GENEL ,STERLING RESOUCRES, all have entered oil exploration and extraction contracts with Somaliland.