EU To Undertake Study Of Ethio-Somaliland Corridor

Addis Ababa , Ethiopia , October 4, 2005 (Addis Tribune) — The European Union (EU) is undertaking a feasibility study on its plan to rehabilitate a road linking the republic of Somaliland to Ethiopia , an EU official said on Sunday.

"The study covers 887 kilometers (550 miles) of road network from Somaliland 's Berbera port to the Ethiopian border town of Togwechale ," EU official Pascal Joanne told reporters.

He said French consultancy firm, Louis Berger, which started the study nine months ago, is to submit its findings to the European Union in two months and will form the basis for the EU's approval to release funds for the second phase, Joanne added.

"The commission will come up with a decision to advance the project into feasibility and designing stage, based on preliminary assessments made by Louis Berger," Joanne said.

Berger is already holding consultations with Ethiopian and Somaliland authorities to integrate their views on the actual situation of the corridor and its future prospects of being used to handle part of Ethiopia 's import-export cargo.

Deputy EU delegation head in Ethiopia , Jean-Pierre Pierard, said the Berbera Corridor Infrastructure Programme was part of a strategy to relieve the congested port of Djibouti .

The EU last week shipped 15,000 tones of relief food supplies to Ethiopia 's hungry through Berbera port in Somaliland and more than 100,000 tones of food are expected to be shipped through the same route in the next weeks, relief and government officials said on Friday.

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