Unlike her schedule for the first five years, Aynalem Worku now opens her mini-market only in the morning and after working hours in the afternoon.

At the end of last month on a weekday around noon, Ayni Mini-Market, located near Ararat Hotel in Yeka District, was closed.

Joining the grocery retail business seven years ago, the owner of the mini-market used to open the shop early in the morning and close its doors at night. However, this changed in the middle of last year.

Aynalem, who pays 4,000 Br a month for rent, excluding electric and water bills, now opens the supermarket from 7:00am to 10:00am in the morning and 4:00pm to 7:00pm in the afternoon.

Previously, her customers parked their cars at the door of the mini-market. This is not the case now, since they cannot park there because of the unfinished road widening project.

Her shop is located alongside the Ararat-Kotebe road project, which was launched in February 2017 with a budget of 534 million Br and a schedule of being completed in two and a half years.

By now, the road should have been finished; however, at this point only 30pc of the work is currently completed.

Since the road is dusty and unsafe for parking cars, Aynalem's clients are not willing to visit her shop during construction hours. The dust that blows into the shop also damages her grocery items, forcing her to close her shop during day time hours. She also laid off her two employees.

"Now, business is very slow," she said, adding that she is even borrowing money from her husband to pay the shop's rent. “The items on the shelves are getting outdated and spoiled.”

The delayed road project that has hurt Aynalem's business was awarded to two local companies after being split in two. It has a six-kilometre length and a 30m width.

The first contract lot of the project, which extends from Ararat Hotel to Kotebe Metropolitan University with a 3.1Km length, was awarded to Diriba Defersha General Contractor for 273 million Br.  The company was supposed to finish the construction of the road in October 2019.

Tekleberhan Ambaye Construction Plc, another prominent local firm, was awarded the second lot that covers the 2.8Km section between Kotebe College and Kara for 261 million Br.

The project is one of the 40 active road construction projects underway in the city. Beside the Ararat to Kotebe project, several others have been delayed as well.

Multiple factors caused the delay, according to Ferehiwot Debele, operations manager of Diriba Defersha.

The lengthy process of mobilising the site, using the area as a marketplace by the local community, design revisions, problems with material supply and lack of skilled human resources are the major factors for the delay, according to Ferehiwot.

The contractor also faced an external problem of rights-of-way, the legal right established by usage to pass along a specific route through grounds or property belonging to another.

Tiumay Weldegebriel, communications director at the Addis Abeba City Roads Authority, which completed 22 projects in the last fiscal year and planned to launch 40 new projects this year, shares Ferehiwot's view.

Along with boundary demarcation issues, design revisions and the under-performance of contractors are the general causes of road delays, he says.

"Unless the contractors place their machines and construction equipment on the sites," says Tiumay, "residents do not voluntarily leave the premises."

The same happened with Ararat to Kotebe road.

Because of right-of-way issues, stemming from the work site running through old neighborhoods with elderly residents who do not want to comply, the district office was not able to evacuate the premises until this October, according to Tiumay.

The old road had a 14m width, but the upgrade widened it to 30m. Thus, the road passes over the boundaries of the residents, which has created tension.

There were also debates with Kotebe Metropolitan University, which will lose some part of its land to the road widening.

After settling all these in December, the construction of the road recommenced in September, almost two years after the project kicked off.

Tiumay also attributes the inefficiency of some contractors as a source of project delay. These companies have limitations in handling holes, construction waste and digging trenches, according to him.

"We receive many complaints," he said, "and we write warnings to contractors to correct the issues raised."

The Authority requires the contractors to pave ways to give mobility access to the community, especially in the rainy seasons and sprinkle the roads with water at least twice a day in the sunny seasons to minimise the amount of dust that rises from the construction.

But many have failed to do so, according to the communications director.