ASSESSMENT OF THE PRACTICES AND CHALLENGES OF DISPUTE RESOLUTION ON ROAD PROJECTS IN ETHIOPIA

Abstract

It is said that the project will be successfully completed when it meets the time, cost, expected scope and quality objectives. The development process also faces tensions between key stakeholders in the road construction industry in order to achieve these goals. Like many projects in the construction industry, the road construction sector in Ethiopia is subjected to confusion of conflict resolution management. Disputes involving various types of mediation mechanisms will vary depending on the nature of the relationship between the parties involved. There are three major recognized Standard Terms of Contracts, MoWUD, FIDIC and ERA Norms Applicable to Ethiopian construction Projects. The above terms and conditions include clauses for the handling of conflict settlements with the main provisions of the Engineer's Decision and subsequent other appeals. During this study, the causes of disputes between industry stakeholders are identified and the existing procedure of dispute resolution in projects undertaken by the Ethiopian Roads Authority is checked. The study covers practice and challenges of dispute resolution management on road construction projects which are located in the central part of Ethiopia. In this aspect, the study assesses the Ethiopian Roads Authority dispute resolution mechanisms by collecting data from questionnaire survey, semi structured interview and desk study since this authority have a large scale and a nationwide history in construction and administering of road projects in Ethiopia. A descriptive research design was adopted. While the study implemented Questionnaire and interview in which used as qualitative and quantitative data collection tools. The data analysis involved in percentage and frequency analysis to indicate the level of agreement or satisfaction of each question applied to analyse to assess ERA’s dispute resolution practices in road projects. The findings of the study revealed that among the dispute resolution mechanisms, almost all respondents in this study agreed that they wish to use and are applying amicable dispute resolution mechanisms like negotiation before DRE, arbitration, or litigation is applied to avoid time and involvement of third party. This shows the preventive dispute resolution mechanism in the road construction industry has a minimum attention, the strategy to respond to problems in a timely manner, creating good communication among project teams, management and good supervision for road construction projects conflict resolution in Ethiopian roads authority is well structured and appreciated to be taken as a best practice. Therefore, to alleviate these prevailing implementation challenges the organization should adopt a standard Project Management (PM) methodology for its projects, diversify funding partners, and conduct need assessment vi of beneficiaries. Change can occur to project scope, deliverables, timeframes or resource, therefore these improvements must be formally requested furthermore, it needs to adopt well-structured communication strategy and invest more on the capacity building of its staff.