HARGEISA, (HargeisaPress) — The European Union, Somaliland Development Fund, UN-HABITAT and the Government of Somaliland have inaugurated the start of installation works for the new 23-km long water supply pipeline from Geed Deeble to Hargeisa.
During the launch of $50m worth Hargeisa Urban Water Supply Upgrading Project (HUWSUP) at Mansoor hotel in Hargeisa the president of Somaliland Ahmed Mahmud Silanyo who had earlier on inspected works at the Geed Deeble site thanked all stakeholders who have made the project possible.
“my government is committed to availing sufficient and clean drinking water to citizens in all corners of Somaliland for their the individual, household, enterprise and collective use and thanks to various partners today marks the start of an end to water insufficiency in the capital Hargeisa” said president Silanyo at the launch he officiated. During his inspection tour of Biyo Shine area in the west of Hargeisa, the main site where HUWSUP works ensue from president Silanyo was accompanied by a number of government officials and representatives from the various donor agencies.
jointly funded by the European Union and the Somaliland Development Fund to the tune of EUR 15 million and USD 8.6 million respectively and implemented by UN-Habitat, in partnership with the Hargeisa Water Agency and the Somaliland Ministry of Water Resources the overall objective of HUWSUP is to improve access to safe and affordable water and livelihoods of vulnerable households in urban and peri-urban areas of Hargeisa city. Since Adequate water supply is a fundamental prerequisite that creates opportunities for economic growth at the individual, household, enterprise and collective level the objectives of this project shall be attained through expanded supply of drinking water from sustainable water sources, and associated creation of employment opportunities, read a statement from the project.
The new 23-km long water supply pipeline which replaces the 40-year-old existing system with a new high-capacity single-transmission main, together with the new Geed Deeble pumping station that will be constructed over the coming 12 months and designed for a capacity of 20 million litres of water per day thus bringing more water into the municipal system is expected to be completed by January 2017.