First thing Puntland should do with oil money..

[FAH1223]

Build desalination plants

[hargaysaay]

security security security

[Monk-of-Mogadishu]

Desal? Not necessary, PL has too much underground water to know what to do with, not to mention Somalia has two rivers from which Puntland could divert water from - it isn't as if PL is separated from Somalia. Desal is too expensive (to build & to utilize) to be of any real use to a society that doesn't actually need it. Desal is for thirsty Arabs, not water-rich countries like Somalia.

[FAH1223]

Desal? Not necessary, PL has too much underground water to know what to do with, not to mention Somalia has two rivers from which Puntland could divert water from - it isn't as if PL is separated from Somalia. Desal is too expensive (to build & to utilize) to be of any real use to a society that doesn't actually need it. Desal is for thirsty Arabs, not water-rich countries like Somalia.

Thing is, Somalis breed like crazy and population will probably increase with more wealth, jobs, opportunities and development. Water will become scarce even with the underground wells.

The two rivers in the south... there needs to be a dam built, like seriously.

But desal would be a great investment, it would make the fight over resources go away. Water being more plentiful and the state can maintain it since it will be makin' it rain. It also is good foresight IMO.

[Monk-of-Mogadishu]

Even the wildest estimates don't put Somalia above 22 million by the year 2050. Aside from some southern farming communities, your typical Somalis don't actually breed much. If you removed the key southern farming communities from the equation, Somalia would have half its current birthrate. With more money and urbanization, birthrate will drop even more, with farming communities having less children because of technology. I just think desal is unnecessary at the moment, Somalia is centuries away from a water crisis, if it ever even sees one. Egypt has continually had a population the size of Somalia or bigger for thousands of years on their arid nation yet they never had water issues till recently; so I think we're good for another few thousand years at least.

[Nanees]

they should use it to teach me af somaali

[Based]

What happens when Ethiopia decides to get its shit together and build dams on the Jubba and Shabeele, effectively controlling Somalia's main sources of fresh water?

Desal is expensive, but how long can Somalia sustain itself on groundwater and two vulnerable rivers?

[Monk-of-Mogadishu]

Ethiopia already has dams on those rivers, and it doesn't change much. Even the massive dam projects on the upper Nile haven't hurt Egypt much if at all. Somalia has two huge and stable rivers, and an obscure 1990s World Bank forum stated secretly that Somalia had beneath it the largest underground lake system in the world. Anywhere in Somalia you can dig a few meters and hit water, we've got a healthy aquifer system to say the least. Anyway, Ethiopia doesn't have the necessity nor capability now or anytime soon to use enough of the two rivers' water to seriously alter the flow entering Somalia. We have too much water for our own use anyway - its a waste to be honest; Ethiopia could divert 95% of the two rivers' water and we'd still have surplus surface water for our tiny little needs.

Bottom line, desal is a non-necessity right now and in the very distant future, PL and Somalia needs to invest the oil money in more immediate needs instead of trying to prevent an issue that'll never take form.

[Murax]

I think first thing they should do is basic infrastructure, standard of living projects. Electricity, sewage, roads, clean running water, schools etc

[FAH1223]

I think first thing they should do is basic infrastructure, standard of living projects. Electricity, sewage, roads, clean running water, schools etc

That's a given.

I'm a big fan of desalination plants though

[qadafi83]

Get nuclear weapons and threat Ethiopia.

[tightrope]

BUILD A STATUE OF THE FOUNDER OF PUNTLAND, THE HONORABLE ABDULAHI YUSUF

[gemini07]

BUILD A STATUE OF THE FOUNDER OF PUNTLAND, THE HONORABLE ABDULAHI YUSUF

[Amethyst]

I think first thing they should do is basic infrastructure, standard of living projects. Electricity, sewage, roads, clean running water, schools etc

That's a given.

I'm a big fan of desalination plants though

I like the thought of desalination plants. Water is a scare commodity, groundwater isnt forever and for a country surrounded by ocean, we could do a much better job of using it to our advantage. BUT the biggest problem I have with desalination is that it requires massive amounts of energy inputs. If you look at the numbers from the cost and benefit analysis of the conversion to drinking water, not to mention the fact that most current desalination facilities run strictly on oil (a variable commodity depending on the global markets pricing), there's gotta be an easier way. I rather see the PL government building huge water/sewage plants, infusing the money into its own economy by contracting local water companies to dig wells, etc. It will have a greater, and much faster impact.

It's all about social institutions (Better schools, better hospitals) as well as infrastructural projects (better roads, and better urban planning). I'm a huge proponent of hiring locals for all the positions and keep foreigners (unless training/advising) at bay. A big cut will obviously also hopefully go to security, and some even reinvested. Too early for this talk, tho. Lets get that money first.

[Mondey]

build the Khaliifa tower of Puntland i.e the Faroole tower