Masha Allah this is exactly what SL needed revitalisation of recreation and the tourism economy.
The European Union held a ground-breaking ceremony to launch the Berbera Beach Development, part of the EU funded Urban development project that was launched in 2020.
Today, the European Union held a ground-breaking ceremony to launch the Berbera Beach Development, part of the EU funded Urban development project that was launched in 2020. The Beach component will be implemented by the Berbera Municipality and UN-Habitat over the next 7 months.
The Berbera Beach project, which will particularly focus on inclusion and livelihood creation, will have the following areas: a family area, a female-only area where girls and women can enjoy the beach and the sea freely, sports and youth facilities for girls and boys, a market area, a recycling facility and pocket spaces reserved as public areas to rest, play, host street vendors or small cultural activities.
“The new Berbera beach project will not only be an attractive recreation opportunity for the people of Berbera, but also a unique economic opportunity. It will attract a large number of visitors and thus create revenues for the region, business opportunities for the private sector, and direct and indirect employment for residents,” said the EU Ambassador to Somalia, Nicolas Berlanga Martinez.
“The public space development at the beach will unlock its potential as an asset for tourism. Consequently, these public spaces will create a vibrant and accessible environment that integrate the needs of a variety of stakeholders, especially the most vulnerable groups such as children, youth, girls, waste pickers and those working in the informal sector,” said Ishaku Maitumbi, Officer in charge of UN-Habitat Somalia Programme.
The municipality identified the beachfront as a priority area for the urban regeneration of Berbera following the current trends of the city growth and the recommendations from the review of the 2017 Strategic Development Plan.
Background:
The Berbera Beach development is part of the larger EUR 7.5M Berbera Urban Development project that was launched in January 2020. UN-Habitat in collaboration with the Berbera Municipality is implementing this urban development project aimed at contributing to inclusive and sustainable urban development and economic growth through improved waste management, infrastructure and services.
Other than the beach development, the municipality aims to improve infrastructure and services of the Beach Road and the main street connecting the beachfront with the city centre. This is a great opportunity to increase connectivity and accessibility of the road, developing a people-oriented network of public spaces, as well as support the future development of the city.
The Berbera public space regeneration project follows the UN-Habitat principle for quality public space network to envision an inclusive and vibrant city. The project also works towards the achievement of the New Urban Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals 11 to make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable and provide universal access to safe, inclusive and accessible, green and public spaces for all by the year 2030.
Berbera, Somaliland, 15 June 2022- In line with its mandate to generate vibrant and dynamic public spaces, inclusion and livelihood creation, UN-Habitat is working on a multi-phased urban development project that will provide this community with more social inclusion and females-specific solutions.
This first phase of the Berbera Urban Development (BUD) project, designed in partnership with the Berbera municipality, comprises a recycling area, drop off area, a market and pedestrian walkways. Six kilometres of raised sidewalks on the beach road that connects Batalaale beach with the city centre of Berbera, the capital of the Sahil region of Somaliland, have already been constructed.
Built with concrete blocks and spanning 1.2 metres on each side of the three-kilometre stretch of road, the sidewalks will allow equal accessibility and social inclusion, including the use of wheelchairs and strollers to the beach.
“Having completed the pedestrian walkways fitted with ramps, and the pocket space shading structure which will be partitioned to give room for street vendors, it is exciting to see the project taking shape to achieve its purpose,” said Idiris Mohamoud, BUD Project Engineer.
Other spaces built include a bus stop at the drop off area, five shading structures, roofed with the traditional grass to ensure a cooling effect from the extremely hot Berbera weather. Three safeguard towers have also been erected to promote security around the beachfront. Few temporary stations for street vendors are marked on the pavement with painting, to improve livability of the space, ensuring social distancing and adequate distribution of the space.
[UN-Habitat/Hamza_Sulub]
The second phase of the project will see the construction of a carriable street, youth & sports area, family area, and Her Space - a public space meant for women and girls only.
Upon completion of both phases, the beachfront development will include four-metre wide pedestrian walkways, 41 benches, 10 gazebos, 36 sunbeds, 3 swings, 35 recycling trash bins, 324 trees, 203 solar powered streetlights along the cycling and pedestrian walkways.
The development project is part of the European Union-funded Berbera Urban Development Project (BUDP) which will contribute to a linear network of public spaces along the beach road. The project will promote the accessibility of the Batalaale beach from Berbera city, equal access to public spaces and livelihood opportunities for the most vulnerable groups.
The pace of this project is abysmal. We need better contractors who will do things within a certain time and certain quality. Bada Caga gali is similar pace, this municipality is inept, they have the money but drag their feet with everything! It’s like they can’t handle simultaneous projects at the same time and don’t want to subcontract to other regions so they just sit on projects and move along one at a time. I know they are prioritising roads, paving and greening the inner city, but the funds for this project was a long time ago and should have been finished by now.
I actually like the wooden structure and roof which most people are calling jiingat it doesnt look like it to me. The chairs are ok but I would have prefered the concrete chairs made in Hargeisa which are dotted around Egal Airport.
But and there is a big but, what on earth is this?
If this was Biyo Kulule or some far flung location you can imagine this quality of a toilet building, but in Batalaale, close to everything needed to build? The slightest wind and that roof is gone. Those doors dont look like they are fit for purpose when it comes to the traffic this place experiences. There are industrial manufacturers in Berbera! Imagine if Somproperty did this ?
They built probably the cheapest options given that pass as a structure. Very unfortunate.
They need to develop this water front.
Masha Allah looks fresh and unique unlike the never ending glass façade of Dubai