Work on construction of a road linking Dusamareb town to its airport has given much welcome employment to displaced and poor local families in this part of Somalia’s Galmudug state.
Mahad Mahmoud Rage was among 550 people hired to work on the tarmac road to Ugaas Nur airport in Dusamareb in February, enabling him to support his family of five on a regular monthly salary of $450.
As a mason, he had endured difficulty earning a living during the three years he has been displaced in the town from the rural area.
“We used to go around town looking for work, sometimes finding something and sometimes nothing. Now we have steady work, and I am a salaried man working every day,” he said.
He has been able to pay back his $600 debt owed to shops where he bought food when unemployed. He also moved his family out of a leaky shack in Amana camp on the city outskirts in August, after building a two-room iron-sheet house in town.
Before Mahad found this job, his family relied on food handouts from relatives in the town that never made one decent daily meal. He explained that he had tried many times to find work in town but failed because he was new and had no contacts.
Mahad’s family was displaced in 2021 from the rural part of Dusamareb, when drought killed their 40 goats.
He said the camp where they lived was even harsher than the rural life they had left behind. He plans never to return to the camp, even when this job ends, because life was unbearable.
He says he will depend on his own effort no matter what challenges come and has begun saving money to start a small business.
Bishaar Khalif Mahmoud, who supports his family of eight, was also selected in May to work on the road construction project earning $450 a month.
“Honestly, this was a new beginning for my family after years of hardship. Before, we sometimes got work and income, other times we went hungry, just sitting at home. But now our food and everything comes from the shops, and when I get my salary each month, I repay them,” he said.
Bishar, selected from among poor local families in the town, had previously worked on construction sites. However, in the last two years he had found no opportunities and shops stopped giving him food on credit after his debt reached $1,300.
“I am very happy, thank God. I repaid my old debts, and I am continuing to pay as long as this job lasts. I hope to achieve something from this work, and with what I save I will do something meaningful, since this job won’t last forever,” he said.
Bishar is setting aside $50 a month from his salary to start a business or as backup for when the road job ends. Besides the financial benefit, he said he has also learned new skills from the project.
This road and airport construction project is the largest of its kind in the city, financed by the World Bank and local businesspeople, and implemented by the Galmudug administration.
According to Abdullahi Abdulle Rage, the director of roads in Dusamareb, hundreds of people have been employed in different roles, including displaced people fleeing conflict and drought, and poor residents of the town.
He added that the selection was based on the families’ circumstances, with workers drawn from city neighbourhoods and displacement camps to create employment for vulnerable people without stable livelihoods.
