KDF troops repair roads and airstrip in Dhobley, Somalia

DHOBLEY, Somalia - In a bid to improve movement of people, soldiers, and humanitarian aid, the Kenya Defense Forces [KDF] serving in AMISOM on Saturday officially launched a major road works repair on the five kilometers Dhobley town to Dhobley airstrip road as well as renovation works of the airstrip runway to accommodate increasing air traffic and ease movement of goods and people.

Brig. Paul Njema, the commander of Sector II of AMISOM, said the major road works will involve clearing of bushes along the sides as well as full repair of the road itself and repairing of the airstrip to smoothen landing and take-off of flights.

“Whatever works we are going to do is set to ease the movement of goods and people around Dhobley town. The works mainly involve grading and clearing of bushes on the sides of this road. Today, we are also launching repair works on the Dhobley airstrip,” Njema said.

Njema, who took over the leadership in January, said the public works repairs on the airport road and airstrip is an indication of the peace the area enjoys since the ouster of Al-Shabaab terrorists over a decade ago and that AMISOM will continue to support the people of Dhobley in order to improve their living condition.

“We are doing all these in line with the AMISOM mandate which guides us to primarily degrade Al-Shabaab activities and also assist in among other Civil-Military Cooperation Activities,” Brig. Gen. Njema added.

Dhobley Administrator Siyad Mohamed Hassan said the repair works will help the town develop further with increased flights.

“Indeed, the airstrip is big and is frequently used by airplanes but it was not functioning as required as it is rough and lacks essential facilities. So, today we have started a repair work to fill the potholes, make canals around the road, smoothen the rough road and extend the runway by 200 meters,” Administrator Hassan said.

The civilian aviation sector in Dhobley hailed AMISOM for the support saying that the road and airstrip runway repairs will improve service delivery.

“We welcome the repair of the road. We faced a lot of difficulties when it rains as water collects into the runway. AMISOM, our partners who were also using the airstrip are supporting us in the repair and they start three days of maintenance work at the airstrip. Based on the equipment readied, we hope the repair works will make a difference,” Haybe Hussein Gani, Dhobley airlines association representative said.

The KDF team mans large swathes of Jubaland state which they use as a buffer zone in the fight against Al-Shabaab militants. Under the Somalia Transition Plan [STP], the troops are set to leave Somalia by the end of next year when AMISOM wraps up the mission in the Horn of Africa nation.

GAROWE ONLINE