Frustrated with the lack of dialogue with their government clients, grade one construction contractors across the country split from Ethiopian Construction Contractors Association (ECCA) last week and founded the Ethiopian Grade One Contractors Association (EGOCA).
 

This new Association applied to the Ministry of Justice for certification in mid September 2006 and received it on October 12, 2006. In industry regulation, grade one contractors are those entitled to oversee any kind of construction projects.
 

According to information from the Ministry of Justice, Yemiru Nega, owner of Yencomad Construction Plc, is the President of the Association; the Vice President is TekleBirhan Ambaye, whose construction company is named after him; and Gezahegn Adege, owner of Gad Construction, is treasurer.
 

All members of the new Association are former members of ECCA, which was founded 13 years ago and led by Colonel Emlealu Werede, with Birhane Ababte, owner of Berta Construction Plc, as vice-president.
 

“ECCA was incapable of presenting our case to the government so we decided that a stronger association was necessary to have smoother communication,” said Alemayehu Ketema, secretary of the Association.
 

Currently, there are 2,000 contractors that are registered under the Ministry of Works and Urban Development. Forty-four of these are grade one construction companies; the rest are companies that fall under grade two to 10, information from the Ministry shows.

According to records from ECCA, the former Association held 700 members, of which only about 100 participated regularly fulfilling their responsibilities as members, sources told Fortune.
 

Local contractors were hired by the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development four years ago to oversee construction projects, worth close to 700,000 million Br, that involved the building of universities and training institutes all over the country. Most of  these projects were completed at different intervals last year.
 

“Due to the escalation in cement, fuel and steel prices, the projects were not concluded on time,” said a contactor. “We paid out of our own pockets to finalize the work; we needed a well-organized Association to present the problems to the government so that it could review the contracts according to the increase in prices at the time. Unfortunately the EECA was unable to do that.”
 

A member of the Association leadership told Fortune that they have already registered 41 members and that some had paid 50,000 Br for the establishment of EGOCA. According to sources, the new association only had 12 contractors when it first began.
 

“We understand that if we have an Association that can relay our concerns and problems to the government, the latter will respond positively,” said Awetahegn Kiros, owner of AKIR Construction Plc. “The expression goes: ‘knock and the door shall be opened for you’. Hence we believe that it is important to have an Association that can develop a strong relation with the government.”

Fortune was not able to speak with ECCA leaders Emlealu and Birhane as they were both said to be out of the country.