Somali govt suspends charcoal shipment from Barawe seaport - business - News - StarAfrica.com

Somali govt suspends charcoal shipment from Barawe seaport - business - News - StarAfrica.com

Somali government officials in Barawe and the regional administration have on Wednesday suspended the exportation of large consignments of charcoal that were intended to be exported to the Gulf countries, since the Somali government and the international community have prohibited trade in charcoal.
General Abdirisak Khalif, chief of operations commander of the Somali army said in a press conference at the Barawe seaport that the Somali government has ordered the suspension the export of the charcoal which Al-Shabaab had planned to export to the Arab countries.
In 2012, the United Nations banned trade in charcoal from Somalia, as a UN report estimated that Al Shabaab earns at least $ 25 million of annual revenue from Barawe seaport.
Mohamed Ali Warsame, a businessman in Barawe told APA that most of the charcoal blocked at the seaport is owned by business people from different parts of the country who use Barawe after charcoal exportation was banned from all other seaports of the country.
Warsame added that a ship ready for charcoal export have docked at the artificial seaport days before the government forces captured the city.
Forests between the Jubba and Shabelle rivers in southern Somalia are where the charcoal is mainly produced that caused a massive deforestation and had contributed to the food insecurity in many parts of Somalia last years
Meanwhile, the government officials have called for the reopening of Barawe football ground, where Al-Shabaab had been using for amputations, slaughtering and lashing of people.
Abdulkadir Mohamed Nur, said that a football tournament for the newly liberated towns from Al-Shabaab will be held soon to boost up social integration and restore the lost interaction after years of restricted ideology.