Garowe (Halbeeg News) – Lawmakers in Puntland regional state have submitted a motion seeking the state to reconsider the deal with Dubai Port operator.
P&O Ports, a ports developer, and operator established by the government of Dubai in 2015 has won a 30-year concession to manage a multi-purpose project in Somalia’s Puntland.
The port in Bosasso, 2,000km north of Mogadishu is agreed to be constructed with an initial investment of $336m split across two phases of $136m and $200m.
Over twenty regional MPs on Saturday filled the proposition calling for a review of the contract between DP World’s P&O Ports concession approved by state assembly last year sensationally claiming the company failed to keep its promise.
Puntland handed over the Bosaso port to P&O Ports October last year in line with the concession agreement.
Some of the lawmakers who lodged the motion said the concession must be reviewed to allow public input.
Despite managing the ports, P&O Ports which is a subsidiary of DP World has not yet started the construction of the ports as per the deal, according to the signatories of the motion.
The project agreed to be implemented by P&O includes a 450m quay and 5 hectares back up area and also involve dredging to a depth of 12m.
The move comes barely four months after Somali Lower House DP World from Somalia declaring it a threat to the country’s sovereignty, independence, and unity.
In a resolution mid-March, the House said DP World deliberately infringed on the country’s sovereignty noting the UAE government-owned ports operator was no longer welcome in Somalia.
“DP World has out rightly infringed on the sovereignty, independence, and unity of Somalia,” the House said. “DP World is no longer part of the agreement and is therefore forbidden in Somalia.”
Despite the solution by the House, the company is still operating in Somalia.
The five-point resolution among others declared the Berbera port agreement illegal, accused UAE government of aggression and banned DP World from Somalia.
The lawmakers also instructed the Prime Minister to urgently table before the House the government’s action plan on implementing the resolution.
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