"New Parts of Hargeisa Will Have Running Water": Hargeisa Water Agency General Manager Details Project Timeline
In a series of statements, Hargeisa Water Agency General Manager Mohamed Ali Darood provides an update on significant water infrastructure developments aimed at meeting the growing needs of Hargeisa. He highlights the successful completion and inauguration of several boreholes as part of the second phase of the Hargeisa Water Expansion Project, crediting the agency's increased operational capabilities. Darood also discusses the near completion of the Kalqoray Dam, a major initiative to supplement water supply, and outlines the next steps for connecting the new sources to the city's distribution system, alongside planned collaborations for managing the dam's surrounding environment
Announcing the successful completion of a new borehole on donated land, the General Manager acknowledged the landowner and visiting dignitaries during the inspection, the General Manager noted:
“We are now at one of the boreholes that the agency was digging that has been completed successfully in the Darasalam District. We are now at a private farm owned by a patriotic Somalilander, Abdikarim Adam, who has donated his farmland to the agency for this borehole to be dug. In this inauguration ceremony, we have with us the Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Minister Abdilahi Geeljire and the Minister of Water Resource Development. This high level delegation of government officials have come to inspect the work that the agency is doing. Dear Ministers and officials, we are honored to have completed 3 boreholes so far as part of 6 boreholes to be dug for the second phase of the water expansion project.”
Providing context on the Hargeisa Water Expansion Project's second phase, Mr. Darood detailed its components and confirmed the inauguration of the third borehole:
“As you might be aware, the second of the Hargeisa Water Expansion Project was inaugurated in 2022. There were two components to this project, a side being the water infrastructure facilities like the reservoirs inside Hargeisa and pipelines to be laid down, which are now close to completion and another side of digging more boreholes for water capacity of the agency to be increased. This is now close to completion with the third borehole being inaugurated today out of the 6 planned boreholes. During this new government, two of those three boreholes were completely”
Mr. Mohamed Ali Darood credited the agency's enhanced operational capacity and equipment for the project's rapid advancement and the new borehole's high efficiency.
“For such swift work to be conducted at such a base was facilitated by the increased operational capability of the hargeisa Water Agency. All the equipment that are being used for boreholes or for the on-going construction of the Kalqoray dam are a property of the republic of Somaliland under the supervision of the Hargeisa Water Agency. The capacity of this borehole is highly effective as the engineers have mentioned. 100 meter cubic per hour can be pumped from this borehole indicating its high efficiency.”
Highlighting the strategy to meet Hargeisa's growing water needs, the General Manager explained the importance of the nearly completed Kalqoray Dam alongside the boreholes
“Since this is a limited area and only so many boreholes can be dug and thus the Hargeisa Water agency is complimenting the boreholes by capturing the rainwater. The Kalqoray Dam, the biggest dam in Somaliland so far, is part of an effort by the agency to supplement the growing demand for water in Hargeisa. It is thanks to Allah that the first dam for Hargeisa is now almost complete. Hargeisa's growing population and the expansion of the city both in size and economy in contrast with our capabilities to develop water infrastructure does not match, however, we should do our best to implement project and invest into our water infrastructure so that Hargeisa’s demand for water is covered as the city expands in all directions.”
Looking ahead, the General Manager outlined the subsequent steps, including connecting the new boreholes to the main system, projecting completion within months to bring water to new areas
“The Sudanese experts and the Hargeisa Water Agency experts have done a wonderful job for this dam to succeed. The rig that dug the borehole here will now move and start digging the fourth borehole. Of course Minister, the boreholes are on different locations with some distance between each other. The next step once all the 6 boreholes are complete is to connect all of them to each other and then connect them to Geedeeble for water to be pumped to the city. Considering the current capabilities of the agency and the 13 km of distance between the boreholes and Geedeeble, it will be completed in 2 to 3 months. And once again, new parts of Hargeisa will have running water.
Concluding his remarks, the General Manager expressed gratitude and detailed planned collaborations with the Ministry of Environment concerning the Kalqoray Dam's surrounding land management.
“Finally, I would like to thank the Minister of Environment and Climate change, the minister of Water Resource Development. We will work closely with the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change in regards to the lands that surround the soon to be completed Kalqoray Dam. The first step is to fence the dam to avoid any unfortunate incidents of people or animals. As expected, the incoming raining season will fill the dam and we expect to relocate the farms near the dam to their desired locations. We also expect the value of the land near the dam to drastically increase and unlawful claims of the lands surrounding the dam to suddenly pop-up. We will work with Ministry to best of our ability in this regard”
