# Erigavo Road Status Unknown After Hirsi Resignation, 2016 Report Says

> A 2016 Somaliland Sun opinion piece said the Burco-Ceerigaabo road effort was spearheaded by Hersi Haji Ali Hassan…

- By: Editorial Team, Somali Construction Review (https://somaliconstructionreview.com/about)
- Published: 30 September 2026
- Format: News story (reported from one named public source)
- Publication: Somali Construction Review (https://somaliconstructionreview.com)
- Subject: Business and Costs
- Tags: project-management, construction-risk
- Web version: https://somaliconstructionreview.com/blog/erigavo-road-status-unknown-after-resignation

## Key points

- A 2016-04-17 Somaliland Sun opinion piece asked whether the Burco-Ceerigaabo road effort ended with the resignation of Hersi Haji Ali Hassan.
- The report does not establish the road's construction status, funding total, or machinery whereabouts since 2016.
- No official document, tender, or contract for the road is cited in the report.

On 17 April 2016, Somaliland Sun reported on the Burco-Ceerigaabo road in an opinion/analysis piece titled "Somaliland: Did The Road To Erigavo End With Hirsi's Resignation?" The article described a years-long effort to raise awareness and funds for a road link between Burco and Ceerigaabo, which the report said was intended to be the final land link connecting western and central Somaliland to Sanaag (Somaliland Sun, 2016-04-17).

The report said the effort was spearheaded from the Presidency by Hersi Haji Ali Hassan, among others, and that Hersi later resigned (Somaliland Sun, 2016-04-17). It named Mohamud Hashi as Hersi's replacement at the Presidency (Somaliland Sun, 2016-04-17). The report did not give a date for the resignation or for the replacement.

On construction, Somaliland Sun reported, in the same 2016-04-17 opinion/analysis piece, that fundraising drives were held and that the majority of the funds were raised and the road "steamed out of Burco." The same piece claimed, as the author's assertion rather than a cited source or audit document, that countless Somalilanders donated small and large amounts (Somaliland Sun, 2016-04-17). The report does not state the total funds raised, the currency, or the percentage that constituted the majority.

The report also said the project's status after the resignation was unclear: "Does the project survive? What happened to the machinery and equipment? Where is the exact location of the road's current status? No answer is forthcoming" (Somaliland Sun, 2016-04-17). No independently documented status of the project after 2016-04-17 appears in the material reviewed.

The piece included other assertions attributed to the author: that the new minister for Public Works was an illiterate former driver who allegedly gave the go ahead to illegal ports in Sahil, and that a new government was expected in 2017 (Somaliland Sun, 2016-04-17). It also noted the Silaanyo administration had been in office almost seven years (Somaliland Sun, 2016-04-17).

What the report does not establish is what happened to the Burco-Ceerigaabo road after 2016-04-17. Whether construction continued, stopped, resumed, or never began is unknown. The report names no contractor, consultant, implementing agency, project length, design specification, or cost estimate. It cites no tender, contract, budget, or payment document.

## Questions

### Who was Hirsi Haji Ali Hassan in the Erigavo road project?

Somaliland Sun reported on 2016-04-17 that the road effort was spearheaded from the Presidency by Hersi Haji Ali Hassan, among others. His exact title within the Presidency is not specified in the report.

### Has construction on the road stopped or slowed since the resignation?

The 2016-04-17 Somaliland Sun report does not establish the project's status after that date. Whether construction continued, stopped, resumed, or never began is unknown in the material reviewed.

### What funding or contractual arrangements are in place for the road?

The 2016-04-17 Somaliland Sun opinion piece claimed that the majority of funds were raised through donations, but it does not state the total raised, the currency, or cite any bank, audit, tender, or contract document.

## Sources

- [Somaliland: Did The Road To Erigavo End With Hirsi's Resignation?](https://somalilandsun.com/somaliland-did-the-road-to-erigavo-end-with-hirsi-s-resignation/) — Somaliland Sun, 2016-04-17