Mogadishu, 29 April 2014,(GNA)His Excellency President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud today visited the sites of two development projects in Mogadishu, funded by the United Arab Emirates. HE the President visited the sites with the UAE’s Ambassador to Somalia, Mohamed Al Osmani along with senior members of the Somali National Army (SNA) and the construction project management.
The Project Manager for both builds, Emirati Abdul Hamid Suleiman, explained to HE the President that the sites, an SNA training facility in Hodan district and a hospital in Cabdulcasis district, have been built at a cost of $9 million and will both be completely operational within 4 months.
The military training facility is capable of training up to 1200 troops at a time and has accommodation, classrooms, a canteen, a medical facility and a mosque as well as a sports field and a shooting range. The Head of the SNA, General Dahir Dan Ilmi, expressed his pleasure at the design of the centre, particularly the dedicated facilities for the training of female soldiers. He commented, “I look forward to the day when all Somali security personnel are trained in Somalia.”
The hospital is located by the Old Sea Port and is a state of the art general hospital that will be capable of treating up to 500 citizens per day.
HE the President paused on his tour of the sites to speak to the projects’ workforce, all of whom were recruited from the local community. “I thank our Emirati brothers for their generous donation to the people of Somalia, one that will help us to deliver both security and medical treatment”
HE the President concluded, “I commend the United Arab Emirates for the approach they have taken in employing the Somali people as the workforce for these projects, bringing much needed jobs to the local people. We need many more projects like this to offer the young men of Somalia a way to earn an honest living instead of working for the enemies of security and stability such as al-Shabaab.”