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LAS'ANOD, May 11, 2009
– Authorities in the town of Las'anod in the disputed region of Sool
have appealed for help in providing safe drinking water for the town's
residents.
Both Somaliland and the self-declared autonomous region of Puntland
claim Sool and Sanaag regions.
"We call upon the government, UN agencies, as well as international aid
organizations, to help us search for solutions to the town's water
supply problems," Mohamed Mohamoud Ali, secretary of the town's local
government, which is loyal to Somaliland, said.
He told IRIN many residents were suffering as water prices had reached a
record high.
"A barrel of water was just 30,000 Somali shillings [US$1] the other day
but it has reached 80,000 Somali Shillings [$2.20] in less than two
months," he said.
The situation, he said, was due to a prevailing drought that has hit
Sool, "where animals have now started dying for lack of pasture and
water".
Ali said the town previously had a water well but it has fallen into
disrepair and been closed for the past three years.
"Since Somaliland's authority replaced the Puntland administration of
the town, several attempts to dig more water wells have been made but
they have yet to be fruitful."
Somaliland took control of the area from Puntland on 15 October 2007 in
fierce fighting.
He said local people blamed Somaliland authorities for closing the only
well in the town without providing a replacement.
"The town's residents drink water trucked from a well in Hawd berkedis
[to the south of the town]," Ali said.
Faisal Jama, a journalist based in Las’anod, said: "They [Somaliland
authorities] closed the town's well, saying its water was salty and
[promising] to dig a new one. They have dug in several places but none
has potable water."
The water problem in the town has been aggravated by poor rainfall.
"We are worried about the availability of water and the rising prices of
the commodity; the current price of 80,000 Somali shillings a barrel for
water is out of most people’s reach," Said Samira Yusuf, a resident,
said.
"The town's residents had moved to different areas such as Hargeysa [the
Somaliland capital], Garowe [Puntland's capital], the port city of
Kismayo, south of Somalia, Nairobi [Kenya], and Ethiopia,” Asha Ahmed, a
resident of Las’anod, said.
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Source: IRIN
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