In brief
- On 31 January 2019, Somaliland Standard reported that the transport and road development minister inspected a bridge linking Berbera and Buroa townships.
- The report says two people died in an accident on the bridge days earlier and that a hole appeared after the mesh and asphalt wore out due to lack of maintenance.
- The report does not establish whether any repair work has since started.
On 31 January 2019, Somaliland Standard reported that Somaliland's transport and road development minister had visited the bridge linking Berbera and Buroa townships, a couple of days after an accident there.
The report said two people died in an accident on the bridge "just a couple of days ago," and that a hole had appeared in the deck after the mesh and asphalt wore out due to lack of maintenance. The minister, named by the paper as Hon. Abdilahi Abokor Ahmed, admitted that the government's failure to renovate bridges caused the loss of the two lives, according to the report.
What the minister said would happen
The minister said the government would repair five bridges in May, among them the Kala Jabka bridge linking Berbera and Buroa, Somaliland Standard reported. He sent condolences to the lifes lost and said work would commence soon.
That is the extent of the commitment recorded in the report. It does not state a year for the May programme. It is not a signed contract, a tender award, a budget line or a start date.
What the report does not establish
Somaliland Standard's account does not say whether any of the five bridges have been repaired, whether work has started, or whether a tender was ever issued. It does not record a contractor, a consultant, a financing source, a contract value or a project cost. It gives no post-2019 assessment of the Kala Jabka bridge's condition, and no technical inspection finding on the hole beyond the reported remarks. The two deaths are not independently confirmed in the report. The bridge's traffic status is not described.
The minister named in the report is Hon. Abdilahi Abokor Ahmed, Somaliland's transport and road development minister at the time.
Frequently asked questions
Which bridge was damaged and where?
The Kala Jabka bridge, which links Berbera and Buroa townships, according to Somaliland Standard's 2019-01-31 report.
What was the extent of damage?
The report says a hole appeared in the bridge after the mesh and asphalt wore out due to lack of maintenance. It gives no dimensions, technical assessment or engineering scope.
Are there repair plans or funding allocated?
The report quotes the minister saying the government would repair five bridges in May. It does not record a contractor, funder, contract value or budget, and does not make clear whether the May programme was the one it was published in.
Sources
Local reporting: this article is written for building work in Somaliland. Ground conditions, prices and rules differ between places; confirm the details for your own site.