Somalia welcomes Saudi Arabia decision to ban import of Charcoal

Somalia’s Federal government has welcomed the recent Saudi Arabia kingdom decision to stop importing charcoal from the war-ravaged nation.
Minister of Livestock, Forestry and Range Mr Saeed Hussein Iid told reporters in Mogadishu that the move will help on saving the country’s environment which has been destructed.
‘’ We welcome the decision which will save our environment that has been devastated for so many years by this illegal business that also affects our livestock export industry,’’ said Mr Iid.
Since the collapse of the central government in 1991, Somalia has been a haven for many environmentally destructive illegal activities such as nuclear and toxic waste dumping, over-fishing and illegal fishing by international fishing enterprises, and the rapacious importation of Somali charcoal by the Gulf States.
In a country with little electrical power, charcoal is the predominant domestic cooking fuel and is now managed by a network of more than 30 local brokers and was also controlled by armed groups such as al-Shabaab before losing seaports they used to export from.
In 2012 the UN banned exports of Somali charcoal, but the ban was not endorsed in the areas not under the control of the government.
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