Social Cost of Pirate Plague Overwhelms Puntland

[Mintid Farayar]

Big houses, fast cars, easy drugs: Ransom-fed lifestyle creates problems in Somali towns

By MOHAMED OLAD HASSAN

Associated Press Writer

876 words

6 December 2009

01:41 PM

Associated Press Newswires

APRS

English

© 2009. The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

 

 

BOSSASO, Somalia (AP) - A parcel of land here that sold for $12,000 two years ago now costs more than $20,000. The price of a nice pair of men's shoes has gone up from $20 to $50.

 

The reason: pirates.

 

The influx of millions of dollars in ransoms has changed life in this coastal Muslim community, driving prices up and creating a schism between the pirate haves and have-nots. As piracy ramps up again with the end of the monsoon season, the lifestyle of the pirates -- big houses, fast cars and easy drugs -- is decried by both religious leaders and ordinary villagers.

 

"The use of drugs such as cannabis and the drinking of alcohol, sex and other obnoxious misconduct are now becoming common within the pirates, causing social problems," said Sheikh Ahmed, a mosque leader in the town of Galkayo. "That is what is worrying us, a lot more than the risk they pose to the foreign ships and crew."

 

Just last month, pirates were paid a reported $3.3 million to release 36 crew members from a Spanish vessel held hostage for more than six weeks. Pirates stand to make tens of thousands from the payment, money that will pulse through the community in gifts, loans and payments to family, friends and businessmen.

 

The European Union Naval Force says pirates now hold 11 ships and 264 crew members hostage off the coast of Somalia. There is little doubt that more ransom money is coming.

 

"There is mad money circulating here, and it affects everybody -- directly or indirectly," said Haji Said, a hotel owner.

 

A lone paved road passes through the middle of Bossaso, and hotels, businesses and new construction line its sides. SUVs and luxury vehicles from Asia ply the road with American, Somali and Indian music blasting from within.

 

The price of clothes, shoes and cosmetics is climbing, said Anshur Kamil, a businessman. Pirates don't even have to pay upfront. Those holding ships hostage that haven't yet received ransom can buy goods on credit -- at elevated prices -- and settle up their debts when the ransom money comes in, villagers say.

 

The pirates pay in dollars and don't bother to haggle, said Khadra Abdullahi, a shop owner in Bossaso, a coastal town on the northern edge of Somalia across the Gulf of Aden from Yemen. "Sometimes they leave change behind, which shows that money is nothing to them."

 

When villagers think the price of a cosmetic is too high, their reply is "we are not pirates," said Abdullahi.

 

The closer to the pirate dens one gets, the higher the prices go. In the nearby town of Eyl, a cup of tea costs three times as much as in Bossaso. In Eyl, pirates pay $5 for a shoeshine, compared with 50 cents in Bossaso, said Hashim Salad, a store owner.

 

Two years ago, a teen named Adani lived on the streets of Bossaso. Now, at only 19 years old, he is a pirate and owns a big house and large truck. He says he has taken part in two hijackings that earned him $75,000, and plans to take part in one more high-seas heist.

 

"When you have nothing people despise you and if they see that you have money you will be respected," said Adani, who gave only one name for fear of reprisals. "This next job will be my last in the piracy trade. I know it's a big risk but I believe in gambling. If I win, I will get married and give up piracy."

 

Roger Middleton, a piracy expert at the London-based think tank Chatham House, said the average ransom has risen from roughly $1 million last year to $2 million this year. He said pirates have been paid more than $100 million in the last two years, though he stressed that the number was an estimate only, and no one has hard figures.

 

"I'm sure there's some resentment at the way pirates behave and the lifestyle they lead. It's not a traditional or righteous one," Middleton said.

 

Middleton also noted that pirate foot soldiers make not millions, but tens of thousands over a year. The big money goes to the bosses, he said, and they are likely to spend it overseas or invest it.

 

Clerics and village elders say they don't approve of the pirate lifestyle. Teenagers threaten their parents that they will join the pirates if they don't get their way, said a prominent Bossaso elder, Suldan Mohamud Aw-nor.

 

Marriage has also been affected by pirates with pockets full of cash. Hundreds of cars escort the bride and groom to the reception, where the house is crammed with expensive furniture, and the bride wears expensive gold jewelry, said Shamso Ahmed, the owner of a beauty salon. Thousands of dollars are paid to brides' families as a dowry.

 

"Pirates do not waste time to woo women, but instead pay them a lot," said Sahro Mohamed. "They did this to several girls I know."

 

------

 

Associated Press writer Jason Straziuso in Nairobi contributed to this report.

[Thankful]

In Eyl, pirates pay $5 for a shoeshine

This is such a lie, nowhere in Bosasso is a shoe shine 50 cents and 100% DEFINITELY NOT 5 dollars in Eyl. It isn't even that much in the country I live in. These articles love to exaggerate and embellish the truth.

 

The author Mr. Mohamed Olad Hassan bio says that"

 

"Mohamed Olad Hassan Born in Mogadishu july 1977 is Ap freelance writer in the somali capital Mogadhishu. also he works with Bbc's network and focus on Africa programs.

It's like a Puntland journalist writing about Mogadishu or Hargeysa Somalia.

 

Puntlanders need to wake up, there is a consorted effort against us in the media, some of which is our fault.

[Mr. Somalia]

Aaarrrgh! This article was penned by an imbecile. And so it is no surprise that other imbeciles would find it newsworthy. For starters, if we put all the unnecessary exaggeration aside, this article has only managed to explain the basics of economic 101, that is-- the DEMAND powered by the ill-gotten gains of filthy rich pirates in a dirt-poor country like Somalia has created INFLATION. And that my friends, is hardly rocket science.

 

Now, moving along to a more serious note: Until ALL the seafaring nations whose ships have been attacked off the Somali coastline, make some concerted effort to stop this piracy by diligently aiding the formation of a strong national government for Somalia, it will continue. And until the international community gets its act together regarding the current hapless Sharif government in Mogadishu, piracy, terrorism and all the other evil vices associated with Somalis will continue to grow.

 

And on the local level: President Faroole made many promises before he was selected by our elders, and if he wants to continue to remain relevant in Puntland politics after his current term in office is over, he must deliver on those promises. He must work to improve conditions in Puntland enough to make the consequences of piracy worse than the alternative.

 

p.s

Hey Oodweyne;

 

Waxaan maqlay gabdhihii Hargaysa iyo Burco waxay ka dhamaan la'yihiin Bosaaso, Eyl iyo Garacad. Maxaa warkaas ka jira?

 

**Note to self**:-<>

 

 

[Che -Guevara]

Originally posted by Oodweyne:

(or as

Mr. Suldaanka

once famously said it, here we have: “Bugland and it's politics of Ana Waa i-kan”

) .

Much like the man quoted , your punch lines are ill timed and lack humor. Try again, and this time without quoting someone who has no funny in his body

[Thankful]

Originally posted by Oodweyne:

in-terms of whether it's

Mr. Rayale's

party or that of

Mr. Silanyo's

who will fit the bill better in here, come the next presidential election,.

Come next elections? There has been what 3 cancelled? Can you tell me what the new election date is? There will be no more elections so long as former Siad Barre employee Riyaale is still in power. He has made it clear that he is not stepping down.

 

Your leader Riyaale was elected in by the people, and now he refuse to allow the people to decide whether he should be re-elected.

 

A place that calls itself a democracy, but doesn't hold elections, that is definitely news worthy.

[Che -Guevara]

^Grenade attacks are nothing to laugh. It is tastless.

[Che -Guevara]

^You are joking right....?

 

A bomb went off in LA, and Puntland "staged" a grenade attack so as you to put out the same egenda or achieve a similiar effect?

 

 

And how arrogant could you be to think an entity exists to emulate you? Sheekada that goes on among tolka lasoo shir tagtey.

 

You are impressed with yourself, we got that but Somalis don't exist to emulate you and are not even shooting for the same goals as you.

[xiinfaniin]

lool@Che

 

Oodweyne will accuse you of rooting for the big D as that is the only argument he can muster