SANA’A, June 30 —‚Despite Yemen’s politically and geographically important coastline, economists say that the government is not utilizing it in an optimal way.
Last week, a symposium titled Problems of the Yemeni Coast Administration was held at the Al-Afeef Cultural Foundation.
Yemen’s coast is 2500 km long and has 9 governorates overlooking the sea, said Rear Admiral Saleh Mojalli during the symposium.
“If we don’t exploit our coasts economically and politically, enemies will infringe our sovereignty under the pretext of combating piracy and terrorism,” he said.
He said that Yemen and other countries have taken action to protect their sea trade, Yemen establishing a coastguard in 2002.
“We need more support to work effectively because protecting the coast and the equipment required for it requires a large budget. For instance, one ship costs USD 15 million and it then needs periodic maintenance,” he explained.
The Bab Al-Mandab Strait lies off the coast of Yemen and is an essential commercial sea route through which about 24,000 ships pass annually.
Our coast has sustainable resources and great fortunes, moreover, transportation by sea is cheaper than by land or air, said Mojalli.
Yemen has more than 100 islands with large resources, according to Husein Al-Hubaishi, former head of the maritime border committee.
“If we don’t take an interest in these islands they will be neglected, and others will seize them,” he said.
He also indicated the importance of building marinas: “There is military investment in these islands but we need civil investment instead,” he said.
We have fortunes in the southern islands and these need protecting and maintaining, according to Al-Hubaishi.
He suggested that these resources will become problems instead of advantages if we neglect them.
“We must invest in our natural treasures in Yemen,” he said.
“There is no strategic vision for the Yemeni coast. Maritime security needs development to be able to protect our economic interests,” said Abdullah Dawbalah, a journalist who specializes in Yemeni coastal issues.
Dawbalah indicated that Yemeni fisherman are exposed to danger from pirates and international forces which lead to economic and human losses.
For example, there are about 200,000 Yemeni families that have been effected by the Eritrean confiscation of Yemeni boats, according to Dawbalah.
“The Yemeni coastguard is weak and under-resourced, moreover, the Yemeni government and the president don’t realize the importance of our coasts,” he said.
He criticized the Ministry of Fisheries that, he said, harass Yemeni fishermen and put unnecessary pressures on them.
All Yemeni economists recognize that the Yemeni coastline is a wasted resource, and that the government treats the coast carelessly even though it is one of the most important economic sectors, says Mostafa Nasr, head of the Economic Media and Studies Center.
Nasr expressed his surprise when he stated that Yemeni people who live on the coast are some of the poorest people in Yemen. They have rich resources, Nasr explained. Their poverty was due to corruption and ill-behaved Yemeni administration.
“If there is an honest and serious administration, Yemen could be the best fish exporter in the world,” he said.
Yemen’s harbors are also neglected due to corruption, Nasr told the Yemen Times. These harbors could bring millions of dollars to Yemen if there was good administration.
“We could also exploit our wonderful islands as holiday resorts to be visited by many foreign and Yemeni tourists,” he said.