BY ABEBE WOLDEGIORGIS
Export trade products and imported products as well as raw materials utilized as inputs for production find their way to their market destiny through transportation. Taking in to account its contribution, it is said that transportation is a blood root of the economy. Hence modernizing the system plays crucial role in registering economic growth.
While briefing the local media, Dagmawit Moges, Minister of Transport said that her Ministry has planned to modernize 60 percent of the road transportation system in the coming 10 years.
To accomplish the plan, the Ministry will mobilize up to one trillion Birr both from public and the private sector. The projects that are going to be implemented are more human centered than the engineering aspect of the construction.
Some of the new types of transport systems are cable transport and string rail which are believed to serve the society for almost 200 years. The string type will be installed in urban centers with no creation of congestion in very narrow corridors. Such venture is helpful in a country such as Ethiopia where population growth is veryhigh.To date, only very few countries have implemented such system.
As to Dagmawit, some private companies are already submitted their proposal to involve in some projects and the government is welcoming them.
In addition, water transportation which serves to load public and goods will be introduced both in the cities and rural parts of the country.
In the past, in various economic sectors projects were planned but most of them remain unaccomplished for extended time. Therefore, planning by itself should not be taken as a goal. As to Dagmawit, unlike the previous times, various studies were conducted currently with regard to the project feasibility, searching for financial resource and others before going to preparing the plan. Moreover, assessment was carried out with regard to some African countries level of development in road network.
“The world is advancing in expanding efficient and effective road network. As we are late comers in this regard, we can be advantageous by imitating their models of development,” she remarked.
In this regard, Ethiopia can draw lesson from the strength and weakness of other countries. In advanced countries broad roads formerly constructed for cars now used for riding bicycles. Engineless means of transportations are preferable to vehicles because they are environmentally friendly.
Ethiopia pursued Climate Resilience Green Economy (CRGE) for the last decade and a half. Introducing, bicycles transport is supportive for CRGE therefore, replicating other countries experience is taken as vital. As part of physical exercises riding none engine transport system supports the users’ physical and mental wellbeing. The practice is also environmentally friendly.
Side by side with these, electric powered busses and light trains that boost mass transportation in urban centers will be introduced.
Construction of transport infrastructures needs concerted efforts with other stake holders. Without applying coordinated effort, achieving the accessibility of modernized road infrastructure will be less effective. Experiences have shown that, in the past and even at the moment, the constructed roads have been demolished by the extension work of ethio-telecom, Ethiopian Electric Power or Water and Sewerage Authority right after their inauguration. This indicates that there is lack of crosschecking while constructing infrastructure among the institutions.
Asked wheather such situation was addressed or not while preparing the 10 years’ road development plan, Dagmawit said that a development effort with out coordination might has its own repercussions on other efforts and pose additional problem. Hence, not to repeat the past mistakes, precautionary measures have been taken starting from planning, designing and up to implementing the projects.
Stake holder Ministries such as Ministry of Urban Development and Construction among others were consulted on the 10 years’ plan and their recommendations were taken as inputs.
Agricultural products fail to reach to the urban consumers and the farmers lose their proper income due to the absence of sufficient road infrastructure in the rural parts of the country. Hence, to resolve the problem the consultation works are taking place in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture.
Some tourist destinations and mining sites are also located in isolated and remote areas and the absence of road inhibited tourists to visit the sites. Taking mineral products to the market also has been very challenging because driving vehicles to the areas is very dangerous.
Hence, to change the problem fundamentally, constructing infrastructure should be strengthened.
As to Dagmawit, to ensure the accessibility of quality road construction, better mechanism is introduced and instead of doing the job in a business as-usual manner decentralizing the construction work has been comprised in the strategy.
As a nation to resolve the problems both in meeting the demand for road and quality the Ministry of Transport studied road functional classification. In the past, issues that related to road construction used to be given to the only pertinent institution in the country which is the Ethiopian Road Authority.
The authority carried out its activities from the center by the top-down approach. Such trend had been underway for the last 80 years though it placed the country at the bottom level in road development when compared to other sub- Saharan African countries due to inefficiency. The rate of road construction accomplishment of the nation is one of the lowest in the continent.
Doing the job in a highly centralized manner has taken the nation to nowhere. Besides, it was unable to address road infrastructure problem of the regions and not helpful to build prosperous society.
Therefore, with the new approach, regions are entitled to construct standardized asphalt roads by their own contractors or by hiring other companies based on their bid criteria. They can also facilitate community support for the road construction.
The Federal Authority on its part has given the mandate to construct roads which connect regions and trans boundary roads by all directions. It is also duty bound to constructs ring roads.
As to the Minister, in the transport sector, there is a wide gap between supply and demand. There are also shortcomings in reaching the society with infrastructures and the construction of road as it is very costly even beyond what the government collects in the form of revenue. Hence, opening the door to both the foreign and local private sectors has been taken as option. Currently, some private sectors showed their willingness to invest and construct roads.
The Ethiopian Herald April 25/2021
