CONSTRUCTION OF LUXURIOUS BUILDING BEEN DELAYED DUE TO LACK OF CEMENT IN ETHIOPIA
The construction of phase one of the luxury La Gare integrated community development project, which is being built by Dubai-based Eagle Hills developers, is delayed due to a lack of cement and problems related to boundary issues, state media reported.
The project is part of one of the largest luxury residential complexes of around 4,000 residential units and is being built by Eagle Hills, a private real estate investment and development company based in Abu Dhabi, the UAE, occupying a total of 360,000 of qm prime land at the heart of Addis Abeba city. It was launched in November 2018 in the presence of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.
The government announced at that time that it owned 27% of the project, which is estimated to take up to seven years to complete and cost 50 billion birrs (close to US1.9 billion based on the currency exchange rate at the time); it was also hoped to create job opportunities for 25, 000 people.
Yohannes Getachew, Eagle Hills project La Gare phase one building Project Manager under Rama Construction, said that the lack of cement supply and boundary issues will be resolved by the employer and that efforts were underway to import cement.
The project is not progressing as fast as it should due to the shortage of cement supply, particularly over the past three months, and delays in cleaning the area. over the past three months.
Rama Construction Plc has signed a US$ 12 million worth contract to complete the construction of phase one within 670 days excluding finishing works, according to Yohannes. However, he said that the recent shortage of cement at the national level has become more of a problem than ever before and called for support to bridge the gap.
The first building, La Gare Sky Garden, is designed to include 92 apartment buildings containing one-bedroom, two-bedrooms, three-bedrooms, and four-bedroom units which is build built on 4,000-square-meter; it will also include 260 parking plots.
Currently, the construction process has reached the 10th floor, with concrete block and plaster works completed up to the 8th floor, and the interior plaster works completed up to the 5th floor.
Misikir Zenebe, deputy manager of Zias Design International PLC, which manages the consulting and supervision works of the La Gare phase one project, for his part, said the construction process could be completed as soon as possible and added that the construction works of the building have created more than 700 rotating jobs.
Addis Aregay, Communications Director of the Office of Large Projects Construction at the Addis Abeba City Administration, said La Gare Eagle Hills is one of the three mega-projects the city is pursuing in partnership. The projects of La Gare Eagle Hills, Addis Tomorrow, and New Africa International Convention and Exhibition Center are two of the other mega projects by the City Administration.
Addis pointed out that based on recent visits to mega-projects cities, the city administration is ready to support major projects in areas related to the shortage of foreign exchange and other challenges during the recent mega-projects. Addis further said that in addition to providing land, one of the tasks of the city administration is to solve the problems that hinder the construction of mega projects in partnership with the city administration. The city administration will also continue to monitor and support the progress of these mega projects, including resolving the problems causing the delay in the construction of phase one of the luxury La Gare project.
The shortage of cement products in Ethiopia has recently prompted the Ministry of Industry to issue a directive telling cement factories in the country to exclude agents from the market network and sell the product directly. In a letter dispatched to 10 cement factories, the ministry asked the factories to notify it a letter of the names and number of agents they had excluded.
The State Minister of the Ministry, Hassen Mohammed, said the ministry was working to shorten the commercial chain to improve the supply of cement into the market; he blamed that agents were one of the reasons for the stretching of the commerce chain and were not supported by law. He vowed that the ministry would enforce strict measures against cement factories that continue employing agents for distribution after the issuance of the directive.
In 2018, following the launching of the La Gare integrated community development project, the Addis Abeba city government, then under Deputy Mayor Takele Uma, was poised to launch at least four similar joint projects in various parts of the city.
The biggest of the four was said to be the “Addis Hillside Complex Village”, to be built by yet another UAE-based real estate company “on the hills of Yeka sub-city”. It was planned to “occupy 645 hectares of land and” and was expected to cost “close to US$ 4 billion.” A source from the city administration told Addis Standard at that time that “the government will own 30% of the share.” However, as of now, the project did not come to pass.