The Ethiopian Road Authority (ERA) said part of Addis-Mombasa road interconnection, ModjoHawassa expressway, will see completion within three years as scheduled, The Ethiopian Herald learnt. Authority Communication Director Samson Wondimu said that all the efforts are being exhaustively exerted to facilitate the completion of the 202 kilometers Expressway Project, to facilitate regional economic integration. According to him, the performances of the first two phases of the project Modjo-Meki and Meki -Ziway, 56.4 Km and 37 Km respectively 70 and 40 percent respectively.
They are estimated to be completed in a year and a year-and-half in that order. The third and fourth sub projects, Ziway-Arsi Negelle (57 Km) and Arsi Negelle-Hawassa (52 Km), are at their beginning stages or one and four percent correspondingly but would to be completed within three years, he furthered. Samson also told the reporter that the highway has great impact on enhancing the socio-economic relations between Ethiopia and Kenya by facilitating import-export linkages through Mombasa Port in addition to easing traffic on the way to Hawassa.
This highway is part of the TransAfrican Highway that connects Cairo to Cape Town, South Africa starting from Azezo to Gondar, Bahir Dar to Addis Ababa, Modjo, Hawasa and Moyale making zigzag line forming the Great East African Corridor Highway Zone, he mentioned. The sub projects are financed by different development partners in that Modjo to Meki is by African Development Bank, Meki to Ziway is by Korean Bank, Ziway to Arsi Negele is by World Bank while Arsi Negelle to Hawassa is by Chinese Exim Bank, and the total estimated cost of the project is about 14.2 billion Birr, he said. The project has created jobs to over 6,000 youths so far.
Herald February 8/2019
BY MISGANAW ASNAKE
