The highly indebted and implicated in grand corruption and embezzlement military owned company (Metal Engineering Corporation (METEC), made plea for cancellation of 57 billion (close to $2 billion) government debt.
This is indicated by the new head of METEC, Brigadier General Ahmed Hamza who spoke to the state daily Amharic newspaper, Addis Zemen. He stated that METEC recently has plead to the government for cancellation 57 billion birr (close to $2 billion) debt out of the total 70 billion birr (over $2.4 billion) the company has borrowed from the government banks.
he stated that worth 17 billion birr ($586 million) machineries and equipment are abandoned and being spoilt after bought and imported with millions of dollars of hard currency.From Great Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) and several sugar projects and Yayou fertilizer projects, METEC was engaged in many mega projects in Ethiopia without going through any bid process.
METEC was acting like mafia operating without any reporting mechanism to the government and not allowing its finance to be audited, according to Brigadier General Ahmed. It is reported that the company has employed hundreds of thousands of people, including those joined the company from the military.