Bokero Posted March 4, 2004 The Thieves and Murderers are at it again!! Warlord Urged to Stop Depleting Somalia’s Marine Resource Somali Peace Rally (Galkaio City) PRESS RELEASE March 3, 2004 Posted to the web March 3, 2004 The citizens of Somalia have continued to witness many brigand type activities committed by no one but someone claiming the title of a leader, an unfortunate word in today's Somalia. Reports of toxic waste dumped in Somali territory are widespread. However, the plaguing of Somalia’s marine resources by few individuals with pecuniary motives has become a daily occurrence. Col. Abdullahi Yusuf of Puntland and his commission taking practices are a case in point. To perpetuate his dubious deals in Somalia's high seas, the Col. Abdullahi has arranged secret contracts in Thailand to exploit Somali marine resource. In the last two years, millions of dollars have been swindled by Abdullahi and his company through similar secret deals. Most of this money has been used for building up militia in order to suppress the people through the barrel of the gun. It is not only theft that SPR is concerned about. We are concerned about the negative effects these deals have for biodiversity. The vessels that Abdullahi gave fishing permits are involved in sweeping high-value tuna, shark and ray fins, lobster, deepwater shrimp and demersal Whitefish, according to source knowledgeable to marine science. People who know Col. Yousuf very well confirmed to SPR that he is a man who is not known for due diligence. "If he is getting money for building up his warlordship, biodiversity is not an issue for him. If he will stay in power, constitution or democracy has no meaning for him", was argued by his critiques. "The implications of Abdullahi’s suspicious deals for Puntland/Somalia are of two fold the resources of the land are stolen by one man and a collaborating gang. Millions are siphoned off in foreign accounts, some of which is used for warlordism, buying armies and recruiting thousands of militias to suppress his people the biodiversity of the beautiful seas of Somalia is jeopardized by the reckless and uncontrolled fishing vessels. It is about to time ask, how is Col. Yousuf different from Mr. Munye who is the only warlord residing outside the country Yemen. It is no surprise that Col. Abbdulahi recently milked $1million from Munye for the ill-fated reconciliation exercise in Kenya. Obviously, Abdullahi decided to exploit Somali marine resource for personal greed and power hungry dreams. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
