Megech Seraba Irrigation Project, which was built for 1.3 billion Br, was inaugurated last week in Gonder, Amhara Regional State. Sileshi Bekele (PhD), minister of Water, Irrigation & Energy, and Temesgen Tirunh, head of the Amhara Regional State, attended the inauguration ceremony. Expected to benefit 30,000 household farmers, the irrigation dam has a capacity of developing 4,000ha of land. The 1.8-billion-cubic-metre irrigation dam took seven years to complete. The government, which has endeavored to reduce the cost of mega-projects for the past two years, has allocated close to 15 billion Br this fiscal year for the construction of irrigation dams with the main target of increasing agricultural productivity at a national level. Most of the irrigation dams in the country are known for delays and cost overruns. Beginning this year, the Office of the Auditor-General confronted the Ministry over the inflated costs of the Zarema Mayday and Megech irrigation dams, which have reached a combined total of 13.6 billion Br from the initial estimation of 6.7 billion Br.
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