Hargeisa- 3 August 2016- The Somaliland Development Fund has today officially handed over twelve motor vehicles to four line Ministries and one government Agency implementing Somaliland Development Fund (SDF) projects at the Ministry of National Planning and Development offices. The handover event was officiated by the Hon. Ali Hussien Ismail, the Minister of National Planning and Development who is also the Chairperson of the National Planning Commission and the SDF Joint Steering Committee.

The event was attended by Ministers and senior officials from the Ministries implementing SDF projects. The Ministries which received their vehicles today include:
• Ministry of Health – 5 ( including 2 ambulances for Erigavo and Las’anod Hospital)
• Ministry of Education - 3
• Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources - 2
• Ministry of Agriculture - 1
• Roads Development Agency - 1

The twelve brand new Toyota Land cruiser hardtop and Hillux pick-up trucks will be used by the Project Management Teams in line Ministries and government Agencies in monitoring and supervision of SDF funded projects, which are spread across the length and breadth of Somaliland. Two of the vehicles are ambulances that will be used by Erigavo and Las’anod hospitals which are currently under rehabilitation by Ministry of Health with support from the SDF.

The vehicles, which were supplied by Toyota Marill – Djibouti, were procured through open tendering process which involved SDF Secretariat, representatives of the respective Ministries and government Agencies and observed by the National Tender Board.

While thanking the governments UK, Demark, Norway and the Netherlands for their generous contribution to the people of Somaliland, Minister of National Planning and Development Hon. Ali Hussien Ismail said that “I am extending my gratitude to SDF contributing donors who have contributed to the purchase of these much needed motor vehicles. The vehicles will facilitate implementation of projects and delivery of service by government Ministries and Agencies. It will also benefit increased supervision and monitoring to project activities to track progress in a more efficient and effective way”.

In the same event, Mr. Michael Thyge Poulsen on behalf of the SDF donors said “I am pleased that the vehicles are finally being handed over to the respective benefiting Ministries. With the new vehicles, the SDF implementing Ministries will be able to get to project sites more easily for monitoring purposes. I also pleased that the people of Sool and Sanaag living outside of main urban centres will have access to reliable ambulance services”.

The Somaliland Development Fund (SDF) is a 4 - year fund designed to support the Government of Somaliland (GoSL) filling a critical gap supporting projects that are fully aligned to the National Development Plan (NDP). SDF is currently funded by the Department for International Development (DFID), the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA), the Government of Norway and Kingdom of the Netherlands.