Sign in to follow this  
Daqane

Can expatriate Somalis rebuild their country?

Recommended Posts

Blackflash;864770 wrote:
Hargeisa would have to have a density 1.5 times greater than NYC to have a population of 1million. I don't have to go to Hargeisa to know how ludicrous that is. I'd peg Hargeisa at 250-300 thousand and Mogadishu at 500-700 thousand.

 

please go see with your own eyes..............population have exploded in certain areas.Burao is estimated by the gov't between 300-400,000.Hargeisa is clearly above 1.25 million.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I still can't understand how anyone thinks a population density of 15000/km2 is possible in any Somali city. If you really believe Hargeisa is twice as dense as Hong Kong, then that's your prerogative. I hope you don't think I'm picking on Hargeisa, my family is from Taleh/Las Anod and I scoff at their own clannish estimates.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Chimera   

You edited your original post:

 

Blackflash;864770 wrote:
Hargeisa would have to have a density 1.5 times greater than NYC to have a population of 1million. I don't have to go to Hargeisa to know how ludicrous that is. I'd peg Hargeisa at 250-300 thousand and
Mogadishu at 500-700 thousand.

Alright, I thought you were being serious about population sizes, even 80s Mogadishu had a higher population when statistics were still being taken let alone modern Mogadishu, with the influx of people from all over the South. LA Times puts it amongst the top of the booming cities of the world, for better or worse. Mogadishu is well over the 2 million figure.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

@Apohis....you guys go & see the country or keep arguing on the sideline 1000s of miles away without eva setting a foot.

 

 

GO SEE Enough of this that!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

1.3 million voted in 2010 X 3.5= almost 4 million.(that's how population calculated by un x3.5)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Apophis;864799 wrote:
@ Burahadeer: Whether I set a foot in that city is irrelevant to the discussion; me visiting and walking around will not proof the size of the population. Are you saying just because you visited the city you're convinced you have an accurate understanding of its population size? If yes, then surely your skills will be in demand in cities across the world.

 

ye smart boy,no one is gona call you to make estimate for them...yours pure intellectual depression.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Chimera;864796 wrote:
You edited your original post:

 

[/b]

My apologies about the edit, I hadn't factored in the potential number of refugees who have flooded the city over the course of the last year or so.

 

Chimera;864796 wrote:

 

Mogadishu is well over the 2 million figure.

You can't hide behind the L.A times on this one, the math tells me what I need to know. Why does everyone forget that a crapton of Somalis have been and still are dying or fleeing the country. I also place little value on old census studies taken during the pre-civil war era as nepotism and corruption provided incentives to pad numbers in certain regions. It could explain why resources weren't allocated properly and famine hit outside the bubble of Mogadishu even during the best of times.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Interesting veering; jabuuti is denser than hargeysa and do IDP counts btw?

natives in hargeysa can not exceed around half a million since other towns are booming and the country is still very nomadic/rural with sland totaling roughly 4 millions at most (even if we accept 4 millions and marked rural exodus). I guess at least half of those if the 1 million figure is true are not natives to the area/western sland/hawd extension, plus much of the elite has emigrated too.

Lastly, huge villas or plots are often half empty and diaspora owned, again a unique factor.

 

Shocking to see how open or green spaces shrinked so fast!

 

All those buildings are irrelevant as the focus should be taxes and efficiency to fight illiteracy and lack of primary healthcare or basic nutrition that are perpetuated by taxes shy elites and unregulated corporations.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Chimera   

Blackflash;864802 wrote:
My apologies about the edit, I hadn't factored in the potential number of refugees who have flooded the city over the course of the last year or so.

 

You can't hide behind the L.A times on this one, the math tells me what I need to know. Why does everyone forget that a crapton of Somalis have been and still are dying or fleeing the country.

This is neutralised by the high birth rate, and large back migrations. The math really doesn't tell you what you need to know, because there is scholarly evidence from the 1980s that puts the population of Hargeisa at the 250k mark and growing. The city back then was much smaller than it is today:

 

The Hargeisa urban centre has a population of approximately 250,000, and it is one of the fastest growing towns in Somalia. - Horn of Africa: Volume 4 - 1981

 

There is no reason to conveniently dismiss the various census/surveys taken before the war because of perceived nepotism, especially in the case of Hargeisa, where it would have been in the interest of the dictator to portray it as small little backwater rather than the fast growing 2nd city of Somalia. I don't have to defend Mogadishu, the city with its grid system plan has been estimated to have a population above the 1 million since the 80s, and during the Islamic courts union was estimated to be well over two million.

 

It's strange, yesterday we had a discussion about the 'big family households' in Somalia, and now we are playing 'where is waldo' with the city/town population sizes of that same country. Yes in Mogadishu there are more five people+ households than in Hong Kong, and sizing up maps (not covering the whole city) won't give you a perfect indicator of the density, so the point is moot.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Doesn't all this points out to a maximum of 1- 1.5 millions at most (assuming massive rural exodus and lots of IDPs)?.

With stability and re-balancing the population count may stabilise for some time.

This is one of the greenest and scenic arena outside the far South and part of Sanaag, hence my preference for less expansion (better land use and planning is so urgent).

 

Thanks again Chimera for being one of the very few "neutral" patriots with interesting data.

 

PS: Burahaader, I'd guessed that 1.2 millions indirectly with the circumstantial data; it may have doubled within 10 years or quadrupled since 1996 (I'm into that period).

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

SOMALIA: Burgeoning population drains Hargeisa water supply

 

Photo: Mohamed Amin Jibril/IRIN

A water vendor in Hargeisa: City officials have called for the construction of a third pipeline to offset increasing water shortages

HARGEISA, 15 June 2009 (IRIN) - Urbanisation and rural-urban migration could soon overwhelm the water supply in Hargeisa, capital of Somalia's self-declared republic of Somaliland, with city officials calling for the construction of a third pipeline to offset increasing shortages.

 

"The city's water supply system has not been improved since the mid-1980s, yet more and more people are migrating from the countryside to Hargeisa, Khalif Aw Abdillahi, manager of the Hargeisa water agency, told IRIN. "We produce 9,000 cubic meters of water daily, which is not enough for the city population because it is increasing; so [supply] needs to expand."

 

Abdillahi said a new pipeline, 25km long, was needed to provide emergency water supplies for the capital.

 

Each household in Hargeisa receives less water than the internationally accepted standard, according to statistics from the water ministry, Abdillahi said.

 

"The ministry's statistics indicate that 45 percent of Hargeisa residents do not receive the international standard quantity of water,” he said, adding that the average was 14l per person per day in urban areas while in rural areas it was 8l per person per day.

 

Abdillahi said: "The Hargeisa water supply was established in the mid-1970s [based] on six wells and one pipeline and dam for about 75,000 people; but the population increased and in the 1980s, the supply was increased [to include] six new wells and one more pipeline, to serve 150,000 persons but in 2007, Hargeisa's population was estimated at about 800,000 and now it is about 900,000, if not more."

 

A former manager of the Hargeisa water agency, Ahmed Ali Dable, said Hargeisa needed at least 27,000 cubic metres of water per day. He said the city - the most populated in the Somali peninsula since 1991 - has had persistent water shortages in the past several years, especially in the north and south of the city, where most residents buy water from vendors with donkey carts.

 

Muhumed Aw Ahmed, a water vendor in Hargeisa, said: “I sell almost 20 barrels per day during the rainy season, compared to the dry season when I sell only seven to 10 barrels per day."

 

His customers are mostly internally displaced persons living in various camps around the city.

 

We need to have funds to ensure adequate supply to the city in the coming 10 yearsImprovements and prospects

 

Ali Sheikh Omar Qabil, director of environmental health in the Ministry of Health and Labour, said: "In 2000, only 35 percent of the population had access to clean water, unlike recent years [when] more than 45-50 percent of the population receive clean water.”

 

Moreover, Abdillahi said: "We are [currently] seeking alternatives to increase Hargeisa's water supply, such as digging new wells in Ged-Deble [20km north of Hargeisa] and a water station is needed at the Beyo-Khadar wells as well as the laying of another pipe to pump more water to the city. Also, there are other places such as Humbo Weyne and Jaleelo, which have been surveyed and found to have water that can be supplied to the city."

 

However, the officials expressed concern about funding the additional water sources in the city.

 

"We need to have funds to ensure adequate supply to the city in the coming 10 years," Abdillahi said.

 

maj/js/mw

Theme (s): Water & Sanitation,

 

 

 

 

 

[Abdillahi said: "The Hargeisa water supply was established in the mid-1970s [based] on six wells and one pipeline and dam for about 75,000 people; but the population increased and in the 1980s, the supply was increased [to include] six new wells and one more pipeline, to serve 150,000 persons but in 2007, Hargeisa's population was estimated at about 800,000 and now it is about 900,000, if not more."]

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Sign in to follow this