Mogadishu (SONNA)-The African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) under sector two have officially launched a major road works repair on the five kilometers Dhobley town to Dhobley airstrip road as well as renovation works of the airstrip runway to accommodate increasing air traffic and ease movement of goods and people.
Speaking when he flagged off the Civilian Military Cooperation (CIMIC) work on Saturday, sector 2 commander Brig. Gen Paul Njema said the major road works will involve clearing of bushes along the sides as well as full repair of the road itself and repairing of the airstrip to smoothen landing and take-off of flights.
“Whatever works we are going to do is set to ease the movement of goods and people around Dhobley town. The works mainly involve grading and clearing of bushes on sides of this road. Today, we are also launching repair works on the Dhobley airstrip,” Brig. Gen Njema said.
The sector commander said the public works repairs on the airport road and airstrip is an indication of the peace the area enjoys since the ouster of Al-Shabaab terrorists over a decade ago and that AMISOM will continue to support the people of Dhobley in order to improve their living condition.
“We are doing all these in line with the AMISOM mandate which guides us to primarily degrade Al-Shabaab activities and also assist in among other Civil Military Cooperation Activities,” Brig. Gen. Njema added.
Dhobley Administrator Siyad Mohamed Hassan said the repair works will help the town develop further with increased flights.
“Indeed, the airstrip is big and is frequently used by airplanes but it was not functioning as required as it is rough and lacks essential facilities. So, today we have started a repair work to fill the potholes, make canals around the road, smoothen the rough road and extend the runway by 200 meters,” Administrator Hassan said.
The civilian aviation sector in Dhobley hailed AMISOM for the support saying that the road and airstrip runway repairs will improve service delivery.
“We welcome the repair of the road. We faced a lot of difficulties when it rains as water collects into the runway. AMISOM, our partners who were also using the airstrip are supporting us in the repair and they start three days maintenance work at the airstrip. Based on the equipment readied, we hope the repair works will make a difference,” Haybe Hussein Gani, Dhobley airlines association representative said.
