Listen live at Ethiopian Review Radio Network. Click here.

Kinijit supreme council members Ato Debebe Eshetu and Ato Aschalew Ketema will attend a public meeting in the City of Seattle organized by Seattle Northwest Kinijit chapter on Saturday, Jan 12, 2008.

Place: Garfield Community Center, 2323 E. Cherry Street
Time/Date: Saturday, Jan. 12, starting at 2:00 PM PST (5:00 PM EST)

Ato Aschalew Ketema is the former head of finance for AEUP before it merged with three other parties to create Kinijit. Ato Aschalew will discuss how and why most former AEUP officials and members oppose the effort by Ato Hailu Shawel and a few of his friends to revive the disbanded party.

The meeting will be broadcast live via Ethiopian Review Radio Network.

A high level delegation of the Coalition for Unity and Democracy Party (Kinijit) led by Wzt. Bertukan Mideksa is currently travelling to several cities and town in southern Ethiopia to consult with the party’s supporters. After completing the southern tour, the executive committee members will head to other regions of the country to meet with Kinijit supporters… Read more by zikkir News Service (click here)

By Tesfa-alem Tekle, AfricaNews reporter in Mekelle, Ethiopia

The Ministry of Works and Urban Development on Ethiopia is facilitating truck procurement for better performing contractors and transporters who are involved in the government’s housing projects. The facility concerns 2000 trucks to be imported from China.

Arkebe Equbai, State Minister of Works and Urban Development, told a press conference on Thursday that the would-be beneficiaries will have to pay upfront thirty percent of the purchasing price of the trucks and will have access to secure loans from the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (CBE) to cover the balance. The acquisition of the trucks has already been finalized, according to Arkebe.

The trucks are supplied by one of the biggest Chinese car manufacturers called SINOTRUK, Arkebe said. Half of the 2000 heavy-duty cars have a loading capacity of 16 cubic meter while the rest have a 40-ton capacity with trailers. The ministry is finalizing short-listing the would-be contractors and transporters who will be entitled to secure bank loans and purchase the trucks. The dump trucks will be sold to contractors while the others are allotted for transporters.

CGC Overseas Construction Eth. Ltd. yesterday signed an agreement with the government to import the trucks from China. In addition to the importation of the trucks, the ministry will facilitate the procurement of 200 crushers and loaders for the housing development program.

The state minister said that the price of selected materials and other major inputs such as sand and gravel has witnessed unprecedented hike, while the supply was declining due to rising demand. Asked if the price hike in construction materials would increase the price of newly built condos, the state minister indicated that the increase could occur because “the government will not subsidize housing projects.”

The ministry has also implemented other various initiatives including loan facilities to existing and new civil contractors and consultants and ease of requirement to secure licenses in order to enhance the housing development program. New and existing contractors and consultants who are involved in the housing projects will have access to secure up to 250,000 loans from CBE, according to the state minister.

During the last couple of years, the government has launched the construction of condominiums in 36 cities across the country including Addis Ababa, a part of which is being finalized. The government will extend the housing projects to 19 more cities, according to the state minister.

The ministry’s five-year plan ending 2010 envisages the construction of 400,000 condos in different cities across the country, which is projected to consume 20 billion birr.

Ethiopian News Agency

Tendaho and Fincha Sugar Factories and an Indian Company, Overseas Infrastructure Alliance Pvt. Ltd, (OIA) signed here on Thursday 640 million contract agreement providing for the expansion and launching of sugar development projects.

According to the agreement, the Indian government would provide the stated sum required for undertaking the projects on the basis of soft loan.

The Company would undertake the project, according to the agreement.

The contract agreement would last five years.

Ambassador V. B. Soni, chairman of OIA and managers of the factories signed the agreement.

Speaking on the occasion, Minister of Finance and Economic Development Sufian Ahmed said the enhancement of sugar factories is one of the priorities of the government.

He said the agreement is the second soft loan provided by the government of India.

Gurjit Singh, Ambassador of India to Ethiopia for his part said that India committed to support the development of Ethiopia.

The Ambassador said India’s commitment to provide a line of credit of up to 640 million USD to support the sugar industry in Ethiopia is the largest ever line of credit that his country has provided to any country so far.

This year he said, the commitment is to provide 122 million USD and further amounts will be progressively disbursed over the next four years.

“The sugar industry is important because India has the right technology and a successful experience, which it is willing to share,” the Ambassador said.

Chairman of OIA appreciates the existing investment climate in Ethiopia.

በተቀዳሚ ም/ሊቀመንበር ወ/ሪት ብርቱካን ሚደቅሳ የሚራው የቅንጅት ለአንድነትና ለዴሞክራሲ ፓርቲ የሥራ አስፈፃሚ ኮሚቴ በመላ አገሪቱ የሚገኙ ደጋፊዎቹን ከነገ ጀምሮ ሊያነጋግር ነው፡፡

በነገው እለት የሚጀመረውን በተለያዩ ክልሎች በመዘዋወር የፓርቲውን ደጋፊዎች የማነጋገር አጀንዳ በቂ ዝግጅት ሲደረግበት እንደቆየ አንድ የሥራ አስፈፃሚ አባል ገልፀውልናል፡፡ የአመራር አባላቱ በውጭ አገራት ሲያካሂዱ የነበሩትን እንቅስቃሴ አጠናቀው እንደተመለሱ ለምን በአገር ውስጥ ያሉ ደጋፊዎቻቸውን ማነጋገር አልጀመሩም በሚል ጥያቄ ያቀረብንላቸው እኚሁ የሥራ አስፈፃሚ አባል ሲመልሱ “በፓርቲው አመራር መካከል የተፈጠረው ልዩነት እየሰፋ የሚሄድ ስለነበርና ችግሩን አንድ መቋጫ ላይ ሳናደርስ ይህን ሰፊና ጥልቅ ተግባር ለመጀመር አልቻልንም” በማለት አሁን ግን “በድርጅቱ ሕግ ደንብ መሠረት አስፈላጊ እርምጃዎች ስለተወሰዱና ዝግጅቱም ስለተጠናቀቀ ሕዝባዊውን ተልእኮ በጠንካራ አመራር እንወጣዋለን” ብለዋል፡፡

የመጀመሪያው የልኡኩ ጉዞ የሚሆነው በደቡብ ክልል ሲሆን ለዚህም ቅድመ ዝግጅቶች መጠናቀቃቸውና ሕዝቡም የአመራሩን መምጣት በመጠባበቅ ላይ መሆኑን ገልፀዋል፡፡

የልኡካን ቡድኑ በከተሞች አካባቢ ብቻ ሳይወሰን ራቅ ወዳሉ የገጠር መንደሮች ሳይቀር በመሄድ የአገሪቱ መሠረት የሆነውን አርሶ አደር ወገን ጭምር እንደሚያነጋግሩ ጨምረው አስታውቀዋል፡፡