House Endorses ICT Development Authority Establishment Bill

Addis Ababa, July 22(ENA)-- The House of Peoples Representatives in its regular session on Tuesday unanimously endorsed a bill providing the establishment of the Ethiopian Information and Communication Technology Development Authority.

The house has also approved the appointment of seven judges recommended by the Federal Judges Administration Council for the Federal First Instance Court, and referred to a relevant committee a Condominium Proclamation for further scrutiny.

"It has become necessary to guide the synergetic and systematic use of ICTs in a direction that enable the technology to contribute its critical role for accelerated attainment of political, social and economic development," reads the preamble of the ICT development Authority establishment bill.

The proclamation was also prompted by the need to ascertain a national development cognizant of the dynamism, peculiarities, extent and coverage of ICTs, according to the preamble.

The establishment of the authority was meant to fulfill the above stated objectives and accelerate national ICT development.

The Condominium Proclamation was said to be instrumental to facilitating the establishment of standardized buildings and residential areas in the country.

"The allocation of urban land to a high rise or a row of houses condominium building will contribute to ...the improvement of urban land use and supply of housing through making great number of people benefit and commonly hold a small size of urban land," reads the preamble.

The house has referred the bill to the legal and administrative affairs standing committee for further scrutiny.

The house has also referred for further scrutiny a bill to ratify the finance contract signed between the Ethiopian government and the European Investment Bank on December 9, 2002.

The bill stipulates that the European Investment Bank will provide to the Ethiopian Government a credit amount of 25 million EUROs for financing the Urban Power Distribution and Load Dispatch Project, according to the Bill.

The loan, according to the signed contract, will be repaid within 14 years including a four year grace period.

The house has also referred a bill to ratify the debt relief agreement amounting to 2,934,000 US Dollars between the Ethiopian government and the OPEC Fund for International Development to the budget and finance standing committee.

The house has deliberated on a bill to ratify the agreement establishing the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) as well as a draft proclamation to provide the establishment of Federal Prisons Commission.