land of peace, fat sheep and a booming economy
Posted: Sun Jul 15, 2007 4:13 pm
I dunno who deleted this thread, but I've brought it back. Anyways, this is an article about north east Somalia(puntland today). A region ignored by Barre regime, but the hard work of the people have made it into a great peaceful state in Somalia.
Here's the newspaper article, from 1992.
The Irish Times
December 14, 1992, CITY EDITION
The other Face of a nation in crisis
In the north-east of Somalia there is another land of peace, fat sheep and a booming economy
SOMALIA is portrayed as a nation of crisis, looting and famine. This image is of the south and, to a lesser degree, the northwest. In the north-east there is another Somalia of peace, fat sheep, a booming economy, no begging and community self-help. The north-east is a strip about 900km long by 200km wide, running up the Indian Ocean coast- line to the very tip of the Horn of Africa. It is occupied by the Majerteen clan which is principally nomadic. There is one tarmac road and a handful of towns. The area was largely ignored by the development programmes under the old Siad Barre regime. These were focused in the south, around Mogadishu and its agricultural hinterland. The northeast was termed the "Forgotten Land". If your career failed in the capital you were sent to the north-east. The absence of development, investment, infrastructure and the nomadic pasturalism has helped save the north-east. There is nothing much to fight over, and most of the assets are literally moveable on the hoof. The Majerteen is strongly protective of its area. When the illegal Somali Salvation Democratic Front (SSDF) came back during the fall of the old central government and the civil war, and its leaders were released from Barres jails they immediately sought power with, and through, the old system of traditional clan leaders. King (Bogor) Abdullahi Musa is a member of the cabinet or council run by the SSDF leader, Mr Mohammed Abshir, in Bossasso. Through the Bogor and the hierarchy of Islans, Nabadons (peacemakers) and their deputies, the Samadons, and the village elders they have controlled inner divisions, created peace, withstood an uprising of Islamic fundamentalists and got on with a self-help administration by consensus. Everywhere the village elders start talking to strangers by saying: "Security is not a problem in our village. You are free to move and see what you want." There are guns around but they are not openly flaunted. The Majerteen has refused food aid for the north-east and is wary about outside involvement. The planned arrival of 900 Canadian UN troops has been discussed for five months and the approach is "softly, softly". The absence of the dead hand of central government that dragged all trade and decisions down south to the capital has liberated the natural entrepreneurial instincts of the Majerteen. Bossasso is booming. One company exported 350,000 sheep and goats to Jeddah for the Hajj pilgrims last spring. The normal night stillness and gentle sound of the waves on the beach is banished at the coastal villages of Eyl and Banderbeyla. Behind the dunes there is the hum and thump of compressors on five tonne refrigerated trucks loaded with langouste/lobster tails bound for Dubai at $ 25 per kilo. In the spirit of self-help, the fish-dealers pay $ 1 per tail to a local fund to reopen the school and hospital and help feed the fractured families displaced by the war in the south. inland, the nomads divide their flocks to provide animals for kinsmen who lost everything in the looting of Mogadishu. Nobody has received a salary for over two years, yet during 30 days among the people I was asked for only one thing. A small boy asked me for a pencil, but was immediately chided by an elder for being so bold! The Majerteen's attitude to the south is phlegmatic and cynical: Aideed is a madman, and "the clan elders were fools not to have found peace when they had the chance". The Majerteen thinks there should be a small UN force in the south with powers to act like firm policemen and support the diplomacy of people like the former UN special envoy, Mr Mohamed Sahnoun, the clan elders and aid agencies that work through the people. Irish organisations such as Concern, GOAL and Trocaire do not have active programmes in the north-east, yet their work is known to the Majerteen and has the reputation of being in the first league For those who may feel that Somalia is a bitter quagmire or bottomless pit, the peaceful industriousness of the north-east is an example and a cause for hope. David Ball is a hydro-geologist and development worker who has 20 years' experience in Africa and the Middle East. He has just returned from a 33-day assessment and planning mission in north-east Somalia for UNICEF and the British organisation, Vetaid.
Here's the newspaper article, from 1992.
The Irish Times
December 14, 1992, CITY EDITION
The other Face of a nation in crisis
In the north-east of Somalia there is another land of peace, fat sheep and a booming economy
SOMALIA is portrayed as a nation of crisis, looting and famine. This image is of the south and, to a lesser degree, the northwest. In the north-east there is another Somalia of peace, fat sheep, a booming economy, no begging and community self-help. The north-east is a strip about 900km long by 200km wide, running up the Indian Ocean coast- line to the very tip of the Horn of Africa. It is occupied by the Majerteen clan which is principally nomadic. There is one tarmac road and a handful of towns. The area was largely ignored by the development programmes under the old Siad Barre regime. These were focused in the south, around Mogadishu and its agricultural hinterland. The northeast was termed the "Forgotten Land". If your career failed in the capital you were sent to the north-east. The absence of development, investment, infrastructure and the nomadic pasturalism has helped save the north-east. There is nothing much to fight over, and most of the assets are literally moveable on the hoof. The Majerteen is strongly protective of its area. When the illegal Somali Salvation Democratic Front (SSDF) came back during the fall of the old central government and the civil war, and its leaders were released from Barres jails they immediately sought power with, and through, the old system of traditional clan leaders. King (Bogor) Abdullahi Musa is a member of the cabinet or council run by the SSDF leader, Mr Mohammed Abshir, in Bossasso. Through the Bogor and the hierarchy of Islans, Nabadons (peacemakers) and their deputies, the Samadons, and the village elders they have controlled inner divisions, created peace, withstood an uprising of Islamic fundamentalists and got on with a self-help administration by consensus. Everywhere the village elders start talking to strangers by saying: "Security is not a problem in our village. You are free to move and see what you want." There are guns around but they are not openly flaunted. The Majerteen has refused food aid for the north-east and is wary about outside involvement. The planned arrival of 900 Canadian UN troops has been discussed for five months and the approach is "softly, softly". The absence of the dead hand of central government that dragged all trade and decisions down south to the capital has liberated the natural entrepreneurial instincts of the Majerteen. Bossasso is booming. One company exported 350,000 sheep and goats to Jeddah for the Hajj pilgrims last spring. The normal night stillness and gentle sound of the waves on the beach is banished at the coastal villages of Eyl and Banderbeyla. Behind the dunes there is the hum and thump of compressors on five tonne refrigerated trucks loaded with langouste/lobster tails bound for Dubai at $ 25 per kilo. In the spirit of self-help, the fish-dealers pay $ 1 per tail to a local fund to reopen the school and hospital and help feed the fractured families displaced by the war in the south. inland, the nomads divide their flocks to provide animals for kinsmen who lost everything in the looting of Mogadishu. Nobody has received a salary for over two years, yet during 30 days among the people I was asked for only one thing. A small boy asked me for a pencil, but was immediately chided by an elder for being so bold! The Majerteen's attitude to the south is phlegmatic and cynical: Aideed is a madman, and "the clan elders were fools not to have found peace when they had the chance". The Majerteen thinks there should be a small UN force in the south with powers to act like firm policemen and support the diplomacy of people like the former UN special envoy, Mr Mohamed Sahnoun, the clan elders and aid agencies that work through the people. Irish organisations such as Concern, GOAL and Trocaire do not have active programmes in the north-east, yet their work is known to the Majerteen and has the reputation of being in the first league For those who may feel that Somalia is a bitter quagmire or bottomless pit, the peaceful industriousness of the north-east is an example and a cause for hope. David Ball is a hydro-geologist and development worker who has 20 years' experience in Africa and the Middle East. He has just returned from a 33-day assessment and planning mission in north-east Somalia for UNICEF and the British organisation, Vetaid.
