New Dry Port Being Built with over $69Mln in Dire Dawa

(PHOTO: Dave Cole/Cook Sip Go)

ADDIS ABABA (ENA)–A new dry port is under construction with about 69.6 million USD on the outskirts of Dire Dawa city, eastern part of the nation, the Ethiopian News Agency reported.

“The current Dire Dawa dry port is providing service for customers in a very narrow area that is less than a hectare of land rented from the Ethiopian Railways Corporation”, Acting Deputy CEO of Port and Terminal Sector with Ethiopian Shipping and Logistic Service Enterprise (ESLSE), Desalegn Gutu, said.

Ato Desalegn told ENA that the dry port under construction has a modern warehouse, railway lines, container terminal, offices and other facilities.

The new dry port will improve the services provided for customers using the existing dry port in the city, he explained.

The dry port is being built on 34.1 hectares of land received from Dire Dawa City Administration.

The construction of the dry port has been going on at a very strategic area that connects the railway lines and the Dire Dawa Industrial Park.

Upon completion, the dry port is expected to provide modern and efficient services for customers by improving the capacity of the current dry port 20 times, the Acting Deputy CEO stated.

ALSO READ: China textile manufacturer Wuxi No. 1 Cotton Mill to build 220 mln USD textile plant in Dire Dawa

Ato Desalegn said the “present dry port has 1,500 square meters warehouse while the new one will have 5,400 square meters warehouse that will have space to put different items separately.”

China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC), the company which built part of the Ethio-Djibouti railway is constructing the dry port, it was learned.

The dry port will become fully operational at the end of the year.

Source: ENA