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The Ministry of Transport and Communications (MoTC)
will construct two dry ports for lorries and trains
with a projected cost of 300 million Br. The
Ministry annexed 140hct of land in Modjo and Mille
for the facilities, paying four million Birr in
compensation to the displaced farmers.
The Mille port will mainly serve the north,
northwest and north central regions of the country,
while the Modjo port will serve the wide hinterlands
of the central, south, southwest and western parts
of the country.
“Taking proximity to major East African ports into
account, evaluations of major transit corridors were
made in order to select an ideal spot that could
best facilitate the efficient and cost-effective
movement of overland cargo,” Bazezew Baye, director
of policy and planning directorate at the MoTC told
Fortune.
Bazezew also said that
in the future three more dry ports will be
constructed in Dire Dawa, Metema and Moyale.
Considering the strategic geographic position of
Mile and Modjo at key cross-roads and near to sea
ports in Djibouti and Somalia, the towns were
selected for the first two dry ports.
Major East African ports include the Eritrean ports
(Assab and Massawa), the port of Djibouti, port of
Somaliland (Berbera), the Somali ports (Port of
Mogadishu and Kismayu), Port Sudan and Port of
Mombassa.
The ministry stated that 90pc of goods imported to
Ethiopia stay at these ports for more than 15 days,
often suffering from the elements and accruing fees
of 20 dollars each day per tonne.
“The ports are beneficial because imported goods
will no longer be affected by the powerful sun and
salty land in Djibouti,” Junedin Sado, minister of
MoTC told reporters at the Sheraton last week on
Wednesday.
The government, however, will not begin construction
of the ports this year. Indeed, only 19 million Br
has been allocated for the project this year. Of the
annual budget, 4 million Br has been spent on
compensating land owners. The remaining 15 million
Br will be use to construct offices for customs
officials as well as for state-owned insurance firms
and banks.
Getachew Mengistie,
state minister of MoTC told Fortune that the
ports would help the country shorten long delays in
the customs clearing procedures.
However, custom clearing agents fear that the
government may monopolise the clearing of the goods.
Getachew Aregay, president of Transistors
Association, said that there are plenty of
individuals that depend on transiting goods to earn
a living.
“The government should not cut out customs
middle-men from the clearing procedures,” he said.
Ethiopia also benefits from the installation of the
ports, as it will be the Ethiopian government that
confiscates goods whose owners do not appear on
time, unlike the previous case where the Djibouti
government expropriates them. Moreover, it is
expected that businesses would flourish in Mille and
Modjo towns.
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