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Locally-owned DMC Construction Plc has had a couple
of good weeks, winning two road construction
projects in a row from the Ethiopian Roads Authority
(ERA). In its latest contract, awarded on November
23, DMC was hired for 380.2 million Br to pave the
100km dirt road now connecting the city of Humbo
with Arbaminch, both in the Southern Nations,
Nationalities and Peoples Regional State (SNNPRS).
The segment is the second phase in a larger project
that will ultimately build a road stretching across
the region from Alaba to Arbaminch. Just a week
before, DMC was given a 168 million Br contract for
the construction of a road connecting
Shashemene,Wondogenet and Awassa.
DMC is winning its
first federal contracts as it nears completion on
its first major contract, given to the company two
years ago by the SNNPRS to construct an asphalt road
in Awassa town for 136 million Br.
“Compared with the new roads in Dire Dawa and Adama
(Nazreth), the new road in Awassa looks better; it
is nice and wide and has a generous sidewalk,” said
an official from the municipality of Awassa.
“However, only time will tell if it’s strong.”
The participation of local contractors such as DMC
is increasing; out of the 492 projects awarded from
1997 until June 2007, local firms won 294 contracts
worth a total of eight billion Br. Still, the
largest contracts are more often given to foreign
firms, which have the capital needed for the biggest
jobs.
Established in 1997/1998 as grade one contractor
with a capital of 10 million Br, DMC currently has
over 400 workers. The construction company is owned
by Daniel Mammo and his family.
“Ethiopian contractors are capable of constructing
concrete asphalt roads as our company demonstrated
in Awassa,” Daniel Mammo, managing director of DMC
asserted.
DMC promised to
finalise the road between Humbo and Arbaminch in two
and half years. The road will have a width of 10mts
with 1.5mt pedestrian pathway on both sides.
Phase one of the same project, which includes the
road stretching from Alaba to Humbo, attracted the
interest of a Korean construction company, Keangnam.
However, the company’s 600 million bid did not
satisfy officials at the Authority, which plans to
issue another tender for the contract.
“We did not accept the offer as it is too
expensive,” Zaid Woldegebriel, director general of
ERA.
Accordng to Zaid, the
government is trying to initiate local contractors
and consultants, as the Authority granted three
projects to local contractors in a row.
Over the past week, Sunshine Construction Plc, a
local firm, also has been awarded an 82Km asphalt
road project from Butajira to Gubira.
Having completed the first two phases of the Road
Sector Development Programme (RSDP) in June 2007,
ERA has launched the third phase of the programme,
which will take three years.
Included in the third phase are the rehabilitation
of 483km of trunk roads, the construction of 2,083km
of new roads, and periodic maintenance of 5,816
roads at the federal level.
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