Oman distributes aid in Somalia

 

By Dr Abdullah Abdulrazak Ba Hajaj

MUSCAT The Oman Civil Relief Initiative team continued distributing relief aid materials to the starving and drought-hit people in Somalia.

Oman Tribune spoke to Ahmed Bin Abdullah Borham, Alawi Bin Omar Taher Borham, and Eng. Mosalam Bin Salim Qatn, the members of the Omani Civil Initiative Team, are in Somalia to make sure that the relief aid reached the needy people. This campaign emphasised that Oman belongs to the Arab and Islamic world and stressed the importance of coherence and solidarity with these countries.

Ahmed Bin Abdullah Borham said the idea of the civil initiative was launched from Dhofar governorate and soon became Oman peoples’ initiative.

Alawi Bin Omar said the pictures and reports of the starvation in Somalia was the main reason for this campaign to take off. He said after getting approval from the Oman Charitable Organisation they started collecting the materials at Aqil Mosque Square in Salalah East during the Holy Month of Ramadan.
Eng. Mosalam Bin Salim said the initiative reflects the love of Omani citizens where children parted with their money and women donated their jewellery.

He added that they could load a ship with 1,300 tonnes of foodstuff, thanks to God and people of Oman. The ship arrived in Mogadishu south and the aid was distributed to the refugee camps and while some part of it were distributed to the interior places in the south. Another ship with 700 tonnes of foodstuff arrived at Busaso Port No­rth of Somalia with fin­ancial aid of 100,000 rials.

The team members expressed their thanks to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for its efforts in coordination with the Somali embassy in Muscat for the visit where a number of Somali officials received them and helped them in their mission.

They also thanked Oman Tribune for its support and following up the Omani Civil Initiative Project. They appreciated the role of the Omani Charitable Organisation for providing humanitarian service to Somalia.