Somalia: Deputy CEO of Puntland Highway Authority briefs Puntland Parliament

GAROWE, Puntland - The Deputy CEO of the Puntland Highway Authority (PHA), Mr. Abdirizak Mohamed Hayir, today addressed the 16th and 45th Sessions of the Puntland House of Representatives, briefing them on the state of Puntland's roads.

"Mr. Speaker, Honorable Members, the PHA is one of the independent agencies of the Puntland government. "There is a lot of work ahead of us to deal with the destruction of the Garowe-Bosasa road, the Garowe-Lasanod road, and the destruction of the Garowe-Galacyo road and the road blockade in the Gardafuu region," said Mr. Hayir.

He went on to say that the agency was struggling with financial constraints that did not allow it to deal with the damage on the roads, adding that the allocated funds had not been met.

"Mr. Speaker, Honorable Members of Parliament, the PHA had a regular revenue stream of fuel, fuel, and automotive equipment, which was run by the agency but was closed in 2013. In the end, the revenue comes from the Ministry of Finance, which has not been properly disbursed to the agency,” added Hayir.

He said the damage to both the current and previous roads has been the subject of various studies, but nothing has been done and the road has been destroyed.

The meeting was a constitutional one to hold the parliament accountable to the government, and the convening of the Puntland Roads Authority came after this year's rains in Puntland destroyed many of the roads connecting the regions of Puntland.