ADDIS ABABA – Progress on the construction of the problem resilient Great Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) project has reached 68 percent as eleven power unit installations is set to start on September 2019, says Project Manager Engineer Kifle Horo.
In an exclusive interview with The Ethiopian Herald, Engineer Kifle said 68 percent of the project has been completed of which 84 percent is the civil work and 25 percent electro-mechanical works. Also, he added that different tangible activities are underway to finish the project and return the public’s acceptance among the project.
As to him, a spiral kin installation which is part of turbines’ work has been started coupled with the two power units’ installation. Apart from this, the installation of 11 power units will also start by the coming September to support the two units. So that the two power unit turbines will start the operation recently, he noted.
He also noted that while the two power units start their function recently, the total physical completion of the project will be ended up within four years. Therefore all Ethiopians should involve in the completion of
Hailu Abraham, Media and Communication Director with the Office of National Council for the Coordination of Public Participation on his part told The Ethiopian Herald that the office is striving to restore public trust and uplift their participation. For this reason, restoring and strengthening of common understanding among the society was the prior task that has been done to restore the public trust.
By doing so, it was able to collect more than 900 million birrs in the past 11 months of the fiscal year. Additionally, different public forums were hosted in different regions to mobilize the community coupled
with coordinating Medias to visit the project site, he added. According to him, organizing such events and visits for the Media will help to create transparency on the progress of the project.
As to Engineer Kifle, the incredible public and media sectors’ participation is exigent for the completion of the project with its targeted period. Adding that the government’s initiative to complete the project is also encourageable, the project manager suggests all Ethiopians go hand in hand to achieve the plan cognizant of the fact that it is a matter of life and death.
The Ethiopian Herald July 27/2019
BY HIZKEL HAILU