By  ISSAYAS MEKURIA
FORTUNE STAFF WRITER

Ethiopian Shipping Lines (ESL) will award the construction of its 10 million Br budget marine training institute on Lake Babogaya at Bishoftu (Debre Zeit), 45Km south east of Addis Ababa, to Tilahun Gurumu Building Contractor.

The contractor was selected from among 12 Grade V and above contractors that competed in the tender to construct the facility. The selection of the contractor followed a January 3, 2006, tender that was opened at the headquarters of ESL in the presence of 14 companies. Two of the bidders were disqualified for failing to present a two per cent bid bond and a bank guarantee.

The consultant for the project, Afri Consulting, a local firm which is also the designer, recommended the firm to a steering committee formed for this purpose based on technical and financial evaluations according to sources at the company. The commitie agreed with the recomendation and the final decision is expected to be made by the Managing Director of ESL, Ambachew Aberha.

The facility will be a two-storey complex to train marine personnel and will be equipped with the necessary facilities such as water vessels and diving gear. ESL used to train its marine staff at the port facility of the Ethiopian Navy at Massawa before Eritrea seceded in 1991. After the two countries separated, ESL rented a private compound on Babogaya Lake at a cost of 40,000 Br. a year.

The general manager of Afri Consulting, Gebermeskel Tesfaye told Fortune, "The contractor was selected based on the best offer for the price and technical capacity."

The decision to build the facility was made two years ago. The company leased a 17,000sqm plot at a cost of 17,000 Br annual lease payment from the Bishoftu Municipality, in the Oromia Regional State.

Fortune's repeated attempts to verify the price offered by the competitors for the construction were unsuccessful as neither the contractor nor the consulting firm were willing to disclose the figure.

Afri Consulting's general manager Gebermeskel Tesfaye said, "The right to disclose information related to the project belongs to ESL." He continued, "We conducted all the pre-selection processes rigorously and submitted our results to ESL."

The construction is expected to be competed within a year of commencement.