Local freighters affected by the poor road conditions that stretch 200 kilometers into the Djiboutian territories demanded the government of Ethiopia to craft tariff adjustments.
While presenting its nine-month performance report to stakeholders earlier this week, officials of the Ministry of Transport has faced resistance from cross-border transport operators claiming that they are having a hard time due to bad road conditions that connect the borders of Ethiopia with Djibouti. Many have expressed how unbearable it has become moving goods from Djibouti to Ethiopia and that the transportation is nowhere near to commensurate for difficulty.
According to transporters, vehicles breakdown every now and then on the Ethio-Djibouti road escalating costs of transportation. With regards to the inflated prices of spare parts, the haulers mention the prices of tires which have gone up to 13,000 Birr rising from 6,000 Birr in just few months. The transporters also cited the price of fuel which currently climbed to 17 Birr per litter from its previous 12 Birr price.
Adding all the reasons together, they have requested the ministry to make tariff adjustments in both freights and passenger transportations subsectors. Though they didn’t suggest the rates they deem acceptable.
The other group which has a lot of grievances to air at the meeting was the private airline operators in Ethiopia. The operators expressed their distaste for the recent requirement the Ethiopian Airports Enterprise has placed on general aviators. The directive compels private operators to purchase an insurance policy worth USD 10 million covering their vehicles operating around the tarmac (runway). This is said to be a measure to protect the safety of aircrafts while different of these operators use the airport facilities around the nation.
Mulat Lemlemayehu (Cap.), a veteran aviator, told Abdissa Yadeta — State Minister of Transport—that the insurance policy required by the enterprise is exceedingly outrageous. Similarly, Amare Gebrehana, deputy managing director of Abyssinia Aviation Academy and Flight Services PLC, also downplayed the new insurance requirement and argued that the enterprise has “no right to request such a mandatory policy”.
The state minister vowed to look into the matters the aviators have echoed. However, he insisted on submitting a formally written appeal to the ministry. Abdissa and Kasahun Hailemariam–director general of the Federal Transport Authority— highlighted that a tariff adjustment is under consideration and will be introduced once the House of Peoples’ Representatives (HPR) ratifies it.
Both declined to mention by how much the tariff will be adjusted in order to satisfy the demands of the transporters.
