A major delay For Berbera Corridor.

by Staff Writer, Abdisalam Boqore

Somaliland’s minister of transport and roads development H.E Abdullahi Abokor has announced that additional 4 months needed for the successful completion of Berbera corridor after he received a progress report from the contracting company which currently runs the construction of the highway. 

The minister has also noted that the initial plan was to finish the road construction prior to MAY 2021. However, the contracting company has made an official request of  4 extra months in order for the road to be completed, which means the Berbera Corridor construction will be finalized in September 2021.

Speaking on the inauguration ceremony of the first 12 kms which was inaugurated by Somaliland’s president, the transport minister Mr. Abdullahi Abokor has also pointed out the presence of minor obstacles regarding the highway completion including the risks posed by the torrential heavy rains, the long distance of building material stores and insufficient construction materials as the minister claims.

On the other hand, the minister has also explained the huge change being done to the previous road in terms of size extension and the number of vehicles it can accommodate at once:

There is a huge difference between this brand new road and the previous road- the previous design was resisting the pressure of 6 tons only but this design will resist more than 40 tons of pressure. The width of the road has also been expanded, the previous width was 6.5 and the newly built width is 11.3 and we are looking forward that this road will be a highly profitable one.

The building of the Berbera corridor was an integral part of a contracting agreement made by Somaliland government and UAE owned ports company DP World. The Berbera corridor will be a strategic link of immense trade importance which connects Port city of Berbera to the dry port city of Tog Wajaale.

Dubai Emirate which funds the Berbera Corridor is on the edge of bankruptcy. Abu Dhabi calls for 10 US billions of capital injection into deserted hospitality and service industry.

The Arab company that contracted the road and its recent request for extending of the deadline countermanding the previous is an ill omen for the road construction.