Hargeysa, Somaliland, November 18, 2006 (SL Times) - The Berbera demonstration is the opposite of what Somaliland stands for. Somaliland stands for the rule of law, for legal and peaceful assembly. The demonstration was anything but peaceful. It was violent and bloody. The demonstrators or rioters burnt tires and destroyed government offices. Did they ever ask themselves who paid for the property they were destroying? It definitely wasn’t the government that paid for it. Tax payers paid for what was destroyed, and tax payers will pay for replacing and fixing it.

The demonstration was supposedly in reaction to a rumor that the government allowed some people to export the scrap in Berbera. This is rather odd. Why should the rumored selling of scrap trigger such a violent reaction, while no finger is being lifted about more serious problems such as the frighteningly deteriorating living conditions in Berbera and the exodus of the skilled professionals from that city? Does scrap have higher priority than housing, health and sewage?

What makes it even more senseless, is that the riot took place at a time when the local government has finally undertaken a cleaning campaign, the number of ships docking at the port have increased and trade with Ethiopia is picking up.

If the aim of the demonstrators was to express their frustration with the living conditions in Berbera, there are better and more effective ways to do it. If their intention was to make a bad situation worse, they have accomplished their goal.