Design for Akaki-Kaliti-Kilinto road to be revised
The Addis Ababa City Road Authority (AACRA) undertook a new and sweeping reshuffling and restructuring program of its top-level management this week, introducing four new deputy managerial positions and divisions in the authority.
AACRA General Manager, Habtamu Tegegn (Eng.), who replaced the long-serving Fekade Haile (Eng.), is continuing with the structural adjustment program in the authority, which he took the helm of back in August. It is to be remembered that the authority has recently decided to decentralize its activities by dividing the city into five separate regions.
According to Habtamu, the latest reshuffling had been carried out with aim of delivering better service to city residents by recalibrating the authority’s operations at different levels.
The reshuffling has brought forth four new deputy managers with their own separate responsibilities and divisions. Management of road resource, and management of engineering tender, contracts, and, research are the first two mega divisions each led by deputy general managers of their own. Meanwhile, the other two deputies are to be in charge of divisions responsible for road construction by own resources and human resource and financial administration. Habtamu told The Reporter that the restructuring was undertaken with due consideration to the authority’s ongoing engagement with a number of huge and expensive road projects.
Although he refrained from divulging the details, Habtamu did confirm that a handful of managerial positions in the new structure had been filled with new blood while some of the old management team members would be facing ultimate dismissal.
“Apart from the over-arching goal of increasing efficiency in delivering its services, the decision to restructure the management of the authority is also part of the government’s ongoing deep reform and renewal. Meanwhile, our specific emphasis has been to ensure transparent and efficient contract administration in the road sector,” Habtamu told The Reporter.
He also indicated that the restructuring had seen the creation of more departments and directorates headed by department heads and directorate generals. This was in line with the authority’s plans to expand its activities in the coming years in order to meet its objectives, Habtamu added.
In a related development, AACRA’s general manager disclosed that following last week’s parliamentary endorsement of the loan agreement with the governments of China and France for the financing of different road projects in the country, the authority had begun revising the project design for the Akaki-Kaliti-Kilinto road project which was drawn up 10 years ago.
According to Habtamu, the design and revision work was expected to be completed in six months’ time after incorporating feedback from stakeholders.
A loan agreement worth USD 102.7 million to finance the Kality Ring Road Interchange, a 50-meter-wide road towards the Tulu Dimtu Roundabout and the road connecting the Kality Ring Road to Bulbula and extending up to the Kilinto Roundabout was signed between the Government of Ethiopia and the Export-Import (EXIM) Bank of China back in October 2016.
He also indicated revision of the old design for the Kality Ring Road Interchange and the 50-meter-wide road leading to the Tulu Dimtu Roundabout was required since a number of changes had taken place in the area after the original design was approved a decade ago. Accordingly, the revised design would take into consideration major water pipelines which ran from Akaki–Kality areas to the city center, the newly built Light Rail Transit (LRT) lines as well as other facilities. He, however, noted that no major changes were expected on the road project that connected the Kaliti Ring Road to Bulbula and later to the Kilinto Roundabout since there were little changes in these areas.
According to the loan agreement, the government will pay 2.6 percent interest per annum in addition to a 0.5 percent management and another 0.5 percent commitment fees on the loan, and is expected to reimburse the loan in full within the coming 20 years including a five-year grace period provided by the bank.
The loan agreement also requires the government to only hire Chinese contractors for the construction of the road. Furthermore, it obliged the government not to engage in any activities that will adversely affect the loan agreement as well as the construction contract entered into with the Chinese contractor unless the bank expressly agrees in writing.
China EXIM Bank has been financing Ethiopia’s infrastructure projects — from railways to roads, power generation plants and power transmission lines including the USD five billion it has recently made available for railway projects in the country.
