2merkato

Sugar cane plantations are under development in Ethiopia on 6000 hectares of land in Southern Omo. The plantations are intended to serve the six Omo Kuraz Sugar factories.

The plantations are part of plans to cover 15 hectares ever year for the coming five years said Tilahun Deneke, Head of the Omo Kuraz Sugar Development Project Office.

Ethiopia has allocated 225 million US dollars for the development of each factory to be constructed by the Metal and Engineering Corp. The assessment and design of the Omo Kuraz Sugar projects is currently underway under the supervision of the Southern Ethiopia Design and Supervision Enterprise and the Ethiopian Waterworks Design and Supervision Enterprise.

Construction of an irrigation dam for the 4.8 billion Ethiopian Birr Wolkayit Sugar Development Project will be launched soon, the Ethiopian Sugar Corporation said.

Project manager with the corporation Amenay Mesfin told journalists that the dam will enable to develop sugarcane on 50,000 hectares of land.

The Ethiopian Sugar Corporation is in the process of finalizing expansion projects started on existing sugar factories in the shortest time possible said Asfaw Dingamo, Advisor to the General Director of the Corporation and Deputy Director General of Legal and Public Relations.

The construction of new factories such as the Wendji-Addis factory is also progressing well according to Asfaw. Sugar Corporation is in the process of launching new sugar development projects along with the infrastructural support systems of the sugar project such as road networks and irrigation he added.

The corporation is committed to building ten new sugar factories in the coming years to launch the export of sugar internationally explained Asfaw. The Corporation is also offering capacity building trainings for its managerial staff including project coordinators.

A Sugar development project is in progress in Tigray Regional State, Ethiopia according to Abaye Tsehaye, Director General of the Ethiopian Sugar Corporation.

More than 40,000 hectares of land has been allocated for a sugarcane plantation, with 10,000 earmarked for the construction of a sugar factory with quarters for employees explained Abaye.

The factory is expected to create employment for 10,000 people as well as enhancing the irrigation development in the area he said.

The new sugar development projects launched in Ethiopia have created more than 28 thousand job opportunities in the last financial year according to the quarterly newsletter issued by the Ethiopian Sugar Corporation.

The projects launched in various parts of the country have created jobs for surrounding communities in Tendaho, Kuraz, Wolkite and Beles areas noted the newsletter.   

The communities that adjoin the sugar development projects have also benefited from the infrastructural work that is part of the projects and includes the construction of roads and schools as well access to running water said the Corporation.