Ethiopians at home and abroad have raised more than 12.3 billion birr for the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) project.
Minister of Water, Irrigation and Energy, Dr Engineer Seleshi Bekele today briefed members of the Ethiopian parliament about the current status of the project.
“Ethiopians have so far raised 12.31 billion birr for the project through bond purchase and donation,” he told the MPs.
Diaspora Ethiopians alone have raised 46 million US dollars through donation and other funding mechanisms, the Minister added. He further urged the people to continue their support .
In the report, lack of experience, inability to respond quickly to problems, low quality of building materials used in the project and poor management of locally manufactured turbines were mentioned as the major reasons for the delay in the execution of the project.
According to the Minister, the dam will start generating power after two years and works were also underway to fully complete the project by 2022. “The completion of the dam is a national pride,” he said.
The Minister also told the MPs about the agreements concluded with the two contractors of the project, namely the Italian company Salini and government owned enterprise Metals and Engineering Corporation (METEC).
His office entered a 25.6 billion birr project agreement with METEC and has so far paid 16.8 billion birr or 65 percent of the amount. However, the Corporation managed to accomplish only 23% of the agreement.
Similarly, the Ministry has paid 2.58 billion birr of the more than 5.6 billion birr agreement signed with the Corporation for the clearing of forests around the dam, according to the Minister.
Moreover, 81.5 billion birr was paid for the Italian company and its performance stands at 82% now, Dr Engineer Seleshi said.
It is likely the project will cost more than initially planned, the Minister said.