On
Saturday, May 3, 1958,
His Imperial
Majesty
Haile Selassie I laid the foundation
stone
for the construction of the Port of Assab.
Below is His Imperial Majesty's speech on that
occasion:
"We
have chosen to come here today for the ceremony
of
laying the foundation stone for the construction of
Our Port
of Assab, not only in order to inspect the
beginning
of what is to be a great technical achievement,
but also
to commemorate a significant moment in the
history
of Modern Ethiopia, combining as it does,
progress
in modernity with antiquity of tradition.
No
Ethiopia, of this or of future generations, can
afford
to forget the disadvantages under which Our
country
suffered in the days when we had no access to
the sea.
It has, therefore, long been the desire of
Ethiopia
to see her ports restored to their Motherland.
In order
to secure an outlet to the sea on these shores,
We
entered in 1928 into an agreement with the Government
of
Italy, but the agreement remained unhonoured,
with no
default on Our part.
God has
ordained that this desire of Ethiopia be
fulfilled
during Our reign, and has crowned with
success
Our efforts to secure the re-integration of Eritrea
and
Ethiopia, which We undertook as soon as We, by His
grace,
had returned to Our homeland and had completed
the work
of re-establishing and re-organizing Our
Government
under Our personal guidance and direction.
For this
Our gratitude to God is unbounded.
The
trails and hardships to which Ethiopia had been
subject
in the days when she had no free outlet to the
sea,
qualify her in a special sense to appreciate the great
importance
of having a seaport of her own.
In laying the foundation stone of the
Port of Assab,
this
historic gateway to the sea, connecting Our land
with the
oceans of the World, We are today opening
for all
the peoples of Our Empire a door to prosperity
and good
fortune of which they can be justly proud.
This
port, connecting Ethiopia with the pulsating
artery
of world commerce, joins her in ties of trade with
the
shores of her friends and neighbours, and also brings
her into
free contact with the continents of the world.
We stand
on the renowned strait of Bab-el-Mandeb,
through
which pass, perhaps more ships than through
any
other stretch of water on our globe. Ethiopia, here in
Assab,
stands sentinel to aid and assist the vast number
of
vessels which carry the life-blood of world commerce.
She must
therefore be fully conscious of her responsibility
to work
hard for the development of her ports.
This uniquely
strategic port of Ethiopia, after the
trials
and vicissitudes of nearly a century when it
languished
unattended and cut off from its motherland,
has now
been restored to her, and Ethiopia, in full
realization of her high responsibility, has undertaken
the
great
task of transforming Assab, into that ,outlet
for
Ethiopia's
sea-borne products, which, by virtue of its
unparalleled
position on the trade routes of the World,
it has
so long deserved, and indeed demanded, to be.
At the
very instant of the long awaited return of
Assab
and Massawa, now five years ago, We declared.:
'In
order to utilize to the maximum the resources
of the
two ports of Massawa and Assab, We
have
given orders that an ambitious programme
of
rehabilitation and improvement of the installations
at
Massawa and Assab should be undertaken.
Moreover
- and this has taken place
well
ahead of the date of the Federation of
Eritrea with Ethiopia -
We have already
commenced
important works for the repair and
improvement
of the roads linking these two
ports with Eritrea and Ethiopia. "
The first
part of that ambitious programme has
already been, under Our own direction, largely
accomplished.
Although the challenge of the work that is
yet to be undertaken demands immense effort, We
must
not forget that much has already been achieved
here,
all of which may not be apparent to the casual
visitor.
The more than
26 millions of Ethiopian dollars
which We are expending for the high engineering and
technical exploits involved in the development
programme
of the Port of Assab, constitute already a direct
and
permanent investment in the future of the Port for
which
We today lay the foundation stone. This in itself
is
sufficient guarantee for the unhindered development
of
the port to meet the rapid expansion of Ethiopia's
economy which has characterised Our region.
The
expenditure of large sum of money and thousands
of hours of engineering skills of the highest
order, countless
hours of discussion and re-examination by experts
in engineering, in marine construction, in finance,
in
commerce, and, finally, many weeks of careful study
and re-assessment by Ourselves of all the work that
has
been undertaken at Our command, have taken place in
order to make possible this historic moment.
Following
these careful studies, and after mature
reflection on all aspects made by Our friends, the
great
and noble people of Yugoslavia, most advantageous
to
us in comparison with other similar proposals, both
in
terms of engineering genius and of financial
facilities, and
accordingly, We have chosen to entrust this vastly
significant task of constructing the port of Assab,
to
the Yugoslav people.
We would
not let this auspicious occasion pass
without
Our expressing to His Excellency Marshal I
Josip
Broz Tito, President of Yugoslavia, Our thanks for
the
assistance he has rendered in bringing to fruition
this
cooperative venture, which shall always remain a
symbol
of our mutual friendship.
We are
fully confident that the Port of Assab will
respond
fully to its high destiny and that a great future ·
awaits
to bless this undertaking.
It is
essential, as We stated five years ago, that
Massawa
also be fully developed. The resources of
Ethiopia,
both present and potential, are
manifestly
adequate
to permit the three ports of Massawa, Assab
and
Djibouti, to thrive together without rivalry, in a
spirit
of collaboration and co-operation.
In thus
providing the means for the continued
growth
of Ethiopia's foreign trade, We have looked not
only to
the benefit of one particular region, but also to
the
welfare and prosperity of Ethiopia as a whole.
At the
moment of the return to Ethiopia of Our
loyal
subjects along the Red Sea coast, We declared:
We will provide, by all possible means,
for the
welfare
of the population of Eritrea."
This
promise We have always maintained and
fulfilled
in various practical ways.
Since
God gives us to enjoy only those fruits which
we
cultivate with toil and sacrifice, We call upon all
Our
beloved subjects, in a spirit of national dedication,
by their
labours and devotion, to ensure that this Port,
now to
spring into existence, will prove worthy of its
heritage
and of its challenge."
Speeches delivered by His Imperial Majesty Haile
Selassie Ist Emperor of Ethiopia on various occasions - page 54 -
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