The Ethiopian Roads Authority (ERA) last week signed an over 258 million Br worth agreement with Gemshu Beyene Construction Plc for the construction of a 75.6Km road in Tigray Regional State. 
 

The agreement - signed by Zayid Weldegebriel, director general of ERA, and Gemshu Beyene, general manager of the private construction firm - is for the private firm to construct the Maitsemer-Dima road, one of the four sections of the about 345Km Maitsemer-Hawzen road construction project that ERA has planned to undertake.
 

The project is expected to take about three years. 
 

“We expect to start the construction in six months,” Gemshu told Fortune.

 

Before the construction begins, Gemshu’s engineers and surveyors will do the ground work; they will survey the area and build a camp at the central project site before getting the go-head to embark on the project from ERA and Yerer Engineering, the consultant firm, according to the general manager. 
 

The work in this section involves the construction of a bridge over Tekeze River, according to Zayid, who also said the future road would enhance tourism business in the area. 
 

“The area is known for its rock-hewn churches,” said Zayid after the Wednesday, April 22, 2009, agreement.
 

The Maitsemer-Hawzen road construction project is part of ERA’s third Roads Sector Development Program (RSDP III) launched in the current budget year, according to the authority’s Public Relations Office. It is being financed by the Ethiopian government.
 

Gemshu won the project by outbidding four local and one Chinese construction firms. The second section of the same project will connect Dima and Fiyel Wuha localities; while the third links Fiyel Wuha and Abi’adi. The last of the four sections of the road construction is expected to run from Abi’adi to Hawzen.   

 

This is not the first business deal ERA has had with Gemshu Beyene Construction Plc, according to Zayid. For the past couple of years, the private firm has been providing maintenance and overhaul services for the Dengego section of the road construction along the Port Djibouti corridor.

 

ERA selected Gemshu Beyene Construction Plc from among the bidders who showed interest following its announcement of the tender months back; those who bid for it include Akir, Tibeb, Macro and Sur construction companies, as well as Giang, a Chinese construction firm. 
 

There are about 80 ongoing road projects that ERA has underway in all regions of the country this fiscal year; the total budget the authority has been given at the beginning of the budget year for these and many other projects is nine billion Birr. ERA itself, through its operational wing, the District Road Maintenance Contractor (DRMC), has been involved in the construction of some of these roads.

 

There are more than 50 designed but not yet initiated projects on the desks of ERA’s engineers; their total cost is included in the nine billion Birr budget.