To respond to peoples growing demand and ensure overall national development, the government has been implementing various mega projects for years. However, many of the projects are not accomplished as per their schedule due to various reasons.
As the project delays incur additional cost, time experts insist that there is a need to fill the gap in building project management capacity.
Experts in Project Management and Represents at Commissions agree that due to lack of feasibility study, skilled manpower and organizational structure which checking project performance are serious problem which hinders to realize several mega projects in Ethiopia.
Assistance Professor with St Mary’s University Dr Tilahun Kassahun said that specific period, cost, and quality are three crucial measures in the given successful project. They are also known as iron triangle dimension. In Ethiopia mega projects like road construction, renaissance dam, and sugar factories are not accomplished as per their schedule due to various reasons.
According to Tilaye, lack of inspection, feasibility study, and accountability are main serious factors which impedes accomplishment of mega projects in their specific period and cost. However, it does not mean that all projects are slow. In this regard, unity park palace is good example as it was completed in the specified period.
‘’If the projects are not finalized in their specific period, then service is not delivered on time and the causes price escalation. So, the country is likely to fall in crises. To solve the problem, it needs feasibility studies, accountability enforcement, and managing the project process has playing vital role to accomplish the given projects on their time schedule’’, Tilaye advised.
Zelalem Berhanie, Public Relation and Communication Director with FDRE Plan and Development Commission told The Ethiopian Herald that lack of well organized structure to control performance process, feasibility studies, and directly enter to studies without any project identification are main serious factors that causes of delayed many public projects during the past many years in Ethiopia.
According to the Public Relation Director, project delays are the causes of additional time, cost, and shortcoming quality, corruption, and weak performance on mega projects.
Although problems exist at all stages, research shows that it was high during the project work performance period. On the other hand, the Commission is taking many activities with stakeholders to accomplish the project on schedule and specified cost. In this regard, the commission has discussed with Mega Project Administration, Ministries, officers, states finance and economy Bureau, Zelalem added.
Meanwhile, Ethiopia becomes the center of many projects in the actual period. Therefore much efforts and commitment is required to accomplish the project on specific time so as to gives expected significance.
General Management Advisory at Management Institute, Yigerem Teref, on his part said that since the main aim of projects is solving society’s problem, Project Management plays indispensable role to control and accomplish the project lifecycle. However, it is difficult to conclude that projects are accomplished on their schedule in Ethiopia due to various reasons.
According to Yigerem, lack of skilled manpower, property ownership, and stakeholders’ integration are the main serious factors which delays many projects to accomplish the given specific period, cost and quality there is no service delivering.
He further added that the institute has been providing short term project training through catalog bid and readiness in order to creating adequate skilled man power during the past many years in Ethiopia. The catalog is based on institution permitted that to announce the bid for trainee which was regular program. While readiness requests to the institution that willingness to taking the training based on trainees’ interest.
Being strategic, realistic, evaluation process and establishing project management institution has playing decisive role to accomplish projects on the schedule, Yigerem underline.
The Ethiopian Herald Nov 02/2019
BY MESERET BEHAILU
