Bossaso, Puntland, December 1, 2007 (SL Times) – A press statement was issued on 24/11/07 by the ‘Jambeel’ clan of Buru district in the semi-autonomous region of Puntland (60km east of Bosaso) warning local/foreign companies ‘not to conduct mineral surveys or collect mineral samples from their district.’

This comes after last week’s incident, when field experts from the Australian based company, Range Resources Limited, attempted to collect mineral samples in Puntland’s Buru district and were chased out of the district by the ‘Jambeel’ clan militia.

The ‘Jambeel’ clan press statement said: “We, the ‘Jambeel’ clan elders of the district Buru held a clan meeting in Bosaso on 24/11/07, whereby it was decided in the meeting that we oppose and prohibit, for the present moment, any government/local authority or local/foreign companies to conduct mineral surveys/sampling or exploration of any naturual resources in Buru district.”

The statement went on to say: “Due to the given circumstances of the current [Puntland] administration and its local policies, we have made the decision to prohibit all mineral activities being carried out in Buru district. We have established a committee to inform those who are conducting mineral operations, and the government is notified of this collective clan [Jambeel] decision that for the time being, no one can come to Buru and conduct any mineral activities.”

The statement was dated, Nov 25, 2007.

Source: Somaliland Times