Adama (Nazareth) is paving of three kilometers of sidewalk with a width of 12 meters using cobblestone at a cost of 4.3 million Br. The pavement work is among the major projects planned by the administration for the 2009/10 fiscal year, Salih Abdela, Infrastructure Development and Design Follow-up Process head, said. A total of 30km of sidewalks will be paved using resources contributed by the public, the administration, the Urban Development Fund, the Urban Local Government Development Project (ULGDP) and the Road Fund during the year.
The project is benefiting micro and small enterprises (MSEs) at various levels. Stonecutters working at quarries will supply the stone to nine enterprises engaged in the distribution of the stones to 398 enterprises that carve the stones into shape. The carvers sell their stones to those who will pave the sidewalks. “There are 8,810 workers involved in the various layers involved,” Salih says.
“How much we earn depends on how diligent we are,” said Alem Nigatu, who has been carving cobblestones for the past 18 months at the Midegda Cobblestone Carving Enterprise, where she is a chairperson. “I make at least 800 Br a month or even 1,200 Br if I work hard enough.”
These workers are paid one Birr to 1.20 Br for shaping one piece of stone, but the stones are sold for 1.60 Br to the pavement workers. These workers make 300 Br per square meter, according to 34-year-old Bekele Dejene, who received training on the trade from the gtz two years ago. Each square meter requires 110 pieces of carved stones, Bekele said. The administration supports the process by providing graders and loaders, assigning engineers, arranging workplaces for the enterprises, as well as creating market linkages between each of the enterprises in the chain from the quarry to the pavement making, Salih said. The administration expects to raise 36pc of the total cost of the project from kebele residents and local businesses.
[Fortune]