ORDA Executes 129m Br Worth of Development Works

The Organisation for Rehabilitation and Development in Amhara (ORDA) has carried out various development works worth 129 million Br in 2009. The development works cover sanitation and hygiene, potable water, forestry, vegetables and fruit production, irrigation and natural resource protection, Wuletaw Hailemariam, director at ORDA said. The director addressed, at a discussion forum organised at Bahir Dar on Sunday, February 21, 2010, a review of its 2009 performance and the plan of action for 2010.

Construction Sector Attracting Local, Foreign Investors

The number of local and foreign entrepreneurs willing to invest in the construction sector has been increasing over the last few years. Investors received investment licences to launch more than 4,000 construction projects with a combined capital of 141.4 billion Br during the last five years, Getahun Negash, investment promotion and public relations director with the Ethiopian Investment Agency (EIA), said. Some 68 of the construction projects are presently under construction while  55 of the stated number of projects are operational.

Jimma Town Constructing Infrastructure Facilities

Construction of various infrastructure facilities is underway in Jimma Town of the Oromia Regional State at a cost of over 156 million Br this fiscal year. The facilities include over 23.5km of asphalt roads, alleys and cobblestone paths, Abdu Ababiya, municipality manager, said. Construction of the facilities has created jobs for over 1,720 unemployed youth. Two business centres constructed at a cost of 4.8 million Br have already begun rendering services to the public. The construction of an abattoir and a recreation centre will soon be launched, Abdu said.

Public Library Costs Southern Tigray 2mBr

Construction of a public library has been launched in Maichew Town, in the Southern Tigray Zone at a cost of two million Br. The budget for the construction of the library was secured from natives residing in foreign countries, Negus Abadi, mayor of the town said. The library will have recreation, indoor games and a parking lot. It will contribute a share in the ongoing efforts to improve the equality of education, he said.

Town Obtains 30m Br from Tourists

More than 30 million Br has been obtained from tourists, who visited tourist attractions in Lalibela Town of the Amhara Regional State. The stated sum was secured from over 14,300 tourists, Habtamu Tesfaw, Heritage Protection and Tourism Bureau process coordinator with the town's Culture and Tourism, Labour and Social Affairs Department, said. The number of tourists exceeded  that of same period last year. by 3,000 Over 11,000 tourists visited the area during the same time in the previous year. The growth has been attributed to the improved infrastructure, facilities and the construction of modern hotels in the town, he added.

Customs Confiscates Contraband Items

The Addis Abeba Customs Office confiscated six pallets of contraband items valued at over 2.5 million Br. The office is performing its duties more aggressively to combat contraband. Smugglers are employing new tactics, such as using the names of international organisations and embassies that have diplomatic immunity, Birhane Yimer, manager of the branch office, said. Customs recently confiscated six pallets of electronics and spare parts that entered the country for embassy consumption. The items are two 52-inch LCD flat screen TV sets, 2,800 Nokia mobile apparatuses, as well as laptop computers.

Ethiopia Signs Grant Accords with UK

Ethiopia and the Untied Kingdom signed a grant agreement amounting to 200 million pounds (307.18 million dollars), according to the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development (MoFED). The grant will be used to support the second phase of the Safety Net Programme, which focuses on drought risk financing and the Household Asset Building Programme. The grant will be utilised from February 2010 to December 2014. Sufian Ahmed, minister of the MoFED, and Howard Taylor (PhD), country representative of the Department for International Development (DfID), signed the agreement.

Netherlands to Offer Technical, Vocational Training

The Government of the Netherlands launched a two and a half year technical and vocational training course for college students in Gonder, North Gonder Zone of the Amhara Regional State, at a cost of 10.6 million Br. The training, run by the Foreign Affairs Ministry of the Netherlands, envisages training over 450 trainees in the coming 30 months, Yemane Kokebe (PhD), coordinator of the training programme, said. The students in two technical and vocational training colleges of the town will be offered training in auto mechanics, construction technology, electricity, metal work and information and communication technology (ICT).

Embassy to Inaugurate Chancery, Residence

The Ethiopian Embassy in Khartoum, Sudan is going to inaugurate a complex built with an outlay of over 80 million Br. The Ethiopian Government decided to create an asset in Sudan by constructing a chancery and embassy residence building, according to Ali Abdo, Ethiopia's ambassador to Sudan. The complex will also undergo a facelift.