Communications and transit > Enquiry on national public works

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However, in very exceptional circumstances, a private contract may be placed with
the Minister’s authorisation.
Works the execution of which is at present in contemplation will be carried out in
accordance with new laws which are now being prepared and will shortly be promulgated.
In accordance with present requirements, these laws will be more detailed than the old ones.
Up to the present, the administrative methods employed for the execution of public
works have met Ethiopia’s requirements, but in view of the steady growth in the country’s
activities, it was necessary to revise, supplement and improve the old laws relating to
public works.
III. Methods employed for financing the Work.
The methods at present employed will be revised under the new laws now in course
of preparation.
Generally speaking, all expenditure on the work carried out for account and by
order of the central authority is covered by an extraordinary budget of the State.
IV.
A part of the material and equipment for the public works described under I is of
national origin, while the remainder is supplied by European and American industries.
The whole of the labour employed is Ethiopian.
The problem of unemployment in Ethiopia does not present the same aspect as in
the industrial countries of Europe and America. European or American workers are
chiefly employed in industry, whereas the vast majority of Ethiopian workers are small
artisans. As there are practically no large industries in Ethiopia, the problem of unem¬
ployment, with all its burdens, as it is generally understood, does not arise.
V.
The Ethiopian Government has every reason to be satisfied with the results obtained
from the execution of the works enumerated under I. However, no country can claim
to have escaped the disastrous results of the economic depression which prevails throughout
the world, and although Ethiopia is not an industrial country, she has not been able to
protect herself from this universal calamity. Notwithstanding this unprecedented
economic depression, the Ethiopian Government is glad to have been able to carry out
the greater part of its public works programme and to note the steady improvement in
the country’s economic activity.