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Etabez Akalu had hoped that she would move to a
better house this June. The50 year-old was
desperately looking forward to the raffle of 13,000
condominium houses, as had been promised by the
Addis Abeba Housing Development Project Office. The
promise has not yet materialized, as the office has
not yet raffled the houses.
Etabez, a mother of four, is obviously very
disappointed. She had expected better luck in this
round of raffles, as she was unlucky in the previous
two raffles. What worries her more though is a
recent announcement by the new city administration’s
cabinet.
In its first assembly on July 3, the city cabinet
made the decision that some condominium houses be
transferred to potential buyers after evaluation by
the cabinet. This would be in addition to the
existing raffle system.
“The raffle has not been done, and they have decided
that houses be transferred at the discretion of the
cabinet,” says Etabez. “Although at first I was
optimistic about the new administration, after the
discussion we have had with city officials, I no
longer am.”
A resident of Arada District, in a place commonly
called Fit Ber, Etabez is one of 450,000
residents of the city who, three years ago, had
registered for the possible acquisition of
condominium houses. She represents a part of the
city’s populace with great aspirations of owning one
of these. It may be a long wait before fruition of
her dreams.
When Ali Abdo was mayor from 1998 to 2002, the third
after the ascendance to power of the EPRDF; there
were 350,000 houses in Addis Abeba, according to a
strategic document prepared by the city
administration. Only 112,000 of these were used for
residential purposes by the then 2.3 million
residents of the city. The rest were streamlined for
commercial business. From the total number of
residential structures in the city, close to 65pc
are over 23 years old, the document reveals.
In 2004 statistics compiled after a housing sector
development programme study conducted by the Central
Statistical Agency (CSA) reveal that the housing
shortfall stood at 337,700. A similar study done by
the Ministry of Works and Urban Development (MoWUD)
last year places the number at 400,000.
Mayor Ali’s administration had estimated that the
construction of 22,200 houses per year for 10
consecutive years would go some way towards easing
the city’s housing shortage. It had envisaged
facilitating the construction of 5,000 to 7,000
houses through the provision of plots to housing
cooperatives and real estate developers.
This strategy has proved futile. It was the
provisional administration lead by Mayor Arkebe
Oqubay that embarked on an aggressive launch of
condos to Addis Abeba.
An estimated 1.5 billion Br was set aside by Arkebe
in 2005 towards implementing an initial plan to
construct 50,000 condominium houses every year for
three consecutive years. The ultimate goal of this
plan was to successfully end the overwhelming demand
for housing by the lower income group of city
dwellers.
Subsequently, the 2005/06 budget year saw the
construction of 9,958 houses at a cost of 306.2
million Br. This was made possible by the support of
GTZ, a German cooperation agency. That same year,
the city housing project office further launched the
construction of 30,719 houses. However, 21,125 of
these have yet to be completed. Although Mayor
Berhane Deressa’s administration had planned to
complete 19,361 condominium houses in the first six
months of this budget year, only 6,766 were
successfully finished. Another phase of construction
hoped to erect another 33,000 houses for residents
of the city. However, not even a single one of them
have been constructed to date.
Since the start of the construction of condominiums
in Addis, the city has transferred houses to
residents three times; twice by raffles, and once
after decisions on selection made by the cabinet,
whose priority list includes members of the Federal
Police, employees of Dashen Bank, and Commercial
Bank of Ethiopia staff.
A proclamation issued in 2005 during Mayor Arkebe’s
administration gave the City Cabinet power to decide
on the allocation of condos that the city had
financed. However, on May 3, 2007, the cabinet
decided to forgo its discretionary role in the
distribution of condominiums, and instead chose to
distribute them to buyers through a raffle system.
Much to Etabez’s dismay, the administration has once
again resorted to cabinet decisions, in addition to
raffles, for the transfer of condos to buyers.
City Officials say the latest move was necessary to
give preferential treatment to those people who may
have become homeless due to road construction and
other infrastructural developments.
Etabez, who lives in a slum village without basic
infrastructure, fears that the new strategy may
benefit those who already own houses, as it is not
entirely objective. She is one of those who are to
be evicted due to Sheraton Addis’ expansion.
The Addis Abeba City Land and Development Authority
wants to clear 37.7hct of land for the Sheraton
Addis expansion project. The luxury collection hotel
has not yet completed its first phase of
construction work.
Although the administration had allocated 70 million
Br last year for compensation of those dislocated,
evictions have not yet begun as there are 2,250
residents in state houses who need alternative
accommodation.
“Although it was at first decided to transfer them
to condo houses, the constructions have not yet been
completed,” said Mesay Tefera, project officer at
the Kirkos District.
The hotel chain has paid the city administration 80
million Br. Its owner, Sheik Mohammed Hussein Ali
Al-Amoudi said on January 23, 2008 that the failure
of the administration to clear the area targeted for
development had delayed the hotel’s expansion
project.
Officials have postponed the date for the third
raffling off of condos that was scheduled for last
month because of delays in completing construction
of the condominium houses.
“The raffle for the 13,000 houses will be made in
September 2008,” Tsedale Mamo, general manager of
the project office, told Fortune.
She also attributed the price hike of construction
materials as a contributing factor in the delay.
Kuma’s administration has made plans to finalize the
construction of 73,000 houses, and to construct a
further 55,000 during the 2008/09 budget year. The
project office requested 5.5 billion Br for the
construction but only 2.5 billion Br was approved
for the city’s basic plan. This amount is expected
to finance the completion of 33,000 houses.
Although the latest programme is not included on the
list of priorities by the city administration, it
will be considered based on the quarterly and
bi-annual performance of the project office, Tsedale
told Fortune.
For Etabez, the flame of excitement that initially
burned with the introduction of condominiums has now
been extinguished. She has no choice but to wait for
what might happen in the raffle taking place in two
months time, although she is very demoralized. This
rainy season will have to be spent in her crudely
built hut. |
