EthiopianAirports Enterprise Signs New Projects Contract

The Ethiopian Airports Enterprise signed a 20 million Br contract with Siemens Ethiopia to reconstruct the field of old airports light and the connection of power between the old and new airport on August 15, 2007. This is done to reconstruct the old airport field with reliable power. The project is expected to be completed in eight month's time. The Enterprise also signed another contract with Silishi Consulting for the improvement and extension design of the Bahir Dar Airport passengers' terminal for 1.73 million Br on August 18, 2007. This design, to be completed in the coming fiscal year, is useful in making the 20 passenger Bahir Dar Ginbot terminal up to international standards and will help it to host international flights.
 

Bureau Distributes Close to 241m Br Bed Nets

Bed nets worth close to 241 million Br have been distributed in the Amhara Regional State in the just-ended budget year, the State Health Bureau said. Getachew Tiruneh, Bureau public relations head, said yesterday that the four million chemically treated bed nets were distributed with a view to protecting residents of malaria-prone parts of the State. The bed nets were procured with funds obtained from Global Fund, Carter Centre, United Nations Children's' Fund (UNICEF) and the State Food Security Coordination Office and distributed to the residents at a reasonable price, he said. One thousand bed nets obtained from an anti-malaria association were apportioned among pregnant mothers living in five weredas of West Gojam Zone, while over 13,000 bed nets donated by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) were distributed in six settlement sites in North Gondar and Awi zones.

29m Br Development Projects Executed in Oromia

Public in West Welega Zone of the Oromia Regional State have carried out more than 29 million Br in development projects, the Zonal Public Mobilisation, Labour and Social Affairs Office said. Kebede Bekele, an expert with the Office, said the construction of roads covering 398Km, 227 small bridges and two primary schools are among the development projects executed by the public in 19 weredas. The public also harnessed a river and drilled water wells that have the capacity of developing close to 15,000hct. More than three million people took part in the projects.

Ethio-Yemeni Trade Reaches $37m

The trade turnover between Ethiopia and Yemen reached over 37 million dollars last year, according to Mehadi Ahmed Gedid, head of the Asia, Australia and the Middle East Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA). Ethiopia earned 26 million dollars from its exports to Yemen last year, said Mehadi. Ethiopia exports meat, spices, natural gum and other agricultural products to Yemen and it imports various manufactured food sanitation material from the Middles East nation, he said. The volume of products Ethiopia exported to Yemen over the past seven years has shown a 31pc increase, according to him. Some 134 licensed Yemeni investors are now operating in Ethiopia in various sectors and various agreements were signed and being implemented by the two countries.

USAID to Handover Assayita Livestock Market in Afar Region

e United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has handed over of the Assayita livestock market completed under the pastoralist livelihoods initiative (PLI) on August 23, 2007. The market, located in Assayita town of the Afar Regional State, represents a link in an improved 'value chain' to strengthen livestock sector performance that will lead to economic benefits for pastoralists. In October 2005, USAID launched the PLI project in Somalia, Afar and Oromia regional states of Ethiopia to help the regions become less vulnerable to drought and other shocks. The livestock marketing seeks to strengthen Ethiopia's livestock marketing system by increasing sales through high value domestic and export marketing.

Somali State to Construct 99m Br Health Facilities

The Somali Regional State has announced plans to build a referral hospital and 41 health centres with over 99 million Br. The State Health Bureau said the construction of the referral hospital is to begin soon in Jijiga town. Abdurhiman Mohammed, Planning and Programme head with the bureau, said the construction of the health centres would be carried out in border areas of the State where pastoralists predominantly live and provision of health services is relatively poor. The health facilities are planned to go operational after one year and are expected to benefit over one million people. The facilities are expected to raise the State's health coverage to 60pc from the existing 50pc, he said.

US Ambassador Announces Emergency Relief for Somali State

United States (US) Ambassador Donald Yamamoto announced the US is providing 18.7 million dollars in humanitarian assistance for needs in Ethiopia's Somali Regional State. The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Office of US Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) has committed nearly 3.7 million dollars in emergency relief for health, nutrition and livelihood programmes to support Ethiopians in the Somali State. In addition, USAID recently provided over 15 million dollars of emergency food assistance to the United Nations World Food Programme (UNWFP) in response to the food insecurity in the State, as well as to malnutrition reports and recent flood displacements in other regions.