The China Communications Construction Company (CCCC) has been awarded two contracts worth US$131m by the Ethiopian Roads Authority. The contracts will see them set up two roads along the Omo River.
One of the contracts, worth US$56m, will ensure construction of an asphalt concrete road form Omo to the Omo Kuraz Sugar Factory junction. This road will link the Omo Kuraz Sugar Factory No.6 with Hanna to Jinka, and Sawela to Maji roads. The road will be stretching to a total of 41.7km. In this phase, a 200m bridge, six 30m long bridges, 83 drainage systems and a 10m carriageway in width, will also be constructed.
The other US$75m contract will cover the construction of the other phase of the project, which will involve setting a road from Omo Sugar Factory No.6 Junction to the Factory No.4 Junction, and will be 60.6km long. The road will have a width of 10m, and will incorporate 157 small bridges and 171 drainage systems.
The project comes at a time when the Ethiopian Government is constructing seven sugar factories in the Omo area. The objective of the project is to provide free movement of sugar from the factories, as well as livestock and agricultural products from the area, to other parts of the country.
