Merkato Bus Terminal Gets Facelift

17 February, 2009

Addis Fortune - The over two million Birr worth makeover of the city bus terminal in Merkato, commonly known as Adarash, has been finalized after a delay of nearly one and half months from the intended date of completion.

After 65 days of sprucing up, the Merkato terminal reopened last Thursday, February 12, 2009, with a new look to render its usual service as the major dispatching point for city buses in Addis Abeba.

The project, which was initially believed to cost two million Birr, sponsored by Moha Soft Drinks S.C, has seen its cost go up by about half a million Birr as there have been a revision of plans to take in additional works, including installation of septic-tanks for the two toilets constructed along with waiting shelters and hand washes. Polar Promotion Plc, a private advertising and promotional company, was in charge of the execution of the project.

“When we started the project, we realized that the place did not have any sewerage system; thus we needed to install septic-tanks,” Asfaw Deneke, general manager of Polar Promotions Plc said. “We also included hand wash facilities that required installation of a pipeline for clean water supply and the drainage system for two shops.”

Metal remnants of the previous shelters had also been heaped-up without being excavated and made it difficult to dig out the concrete, according to Asfaw.

The project has been undertaken in collaboration with Addis Abeba City Government, the Federal Transport Authority, Addis Abeba Branch Office, and the Anbessa City Bus Enterprise, which took the mandate to run the shops in the area from the Transport Authority.

Incurring the approximately 2.5 million Br cost, Moha now has its advertisements all around the terminal on the seven, two-sided, ten-metre long passenger waiting shelters and the two shops that also provide a snack service and on the two wind-proof ticket offices for Anbessa.

The soft drinks company made the investment primarily as promotion for their products in the area, according to Gethachew Birbo, chief executive officer of Moha.

Now that the terminal is complete, Anbessa City Bus Enterprise plans to run the facilities within the terminal by itself, Amanuel Tezera, head of Dispatching Department with the enterprise disclosed. Polar, however has the responsibility to look after the cleanliness of the terminal.

There are about 500 employees, including the two shift drivers and the cashiers for the 100 buses that operate from the terminal.

Besides the 450,000 dwellers in the Addis Ketema District, which has over 10,000 shops, more than 200,000 people from all across the city visit Merkato - the largest open market in Africa - each day. The 100 buses that operate from the Merkato terminal serve the area each day with 20,000 trips, according to Tiblets Asgedom, general manager of the city Transport Branch Office.

“As Merkato is a big market place in the country that has become an attraction for tourists, we need to keep it clean,” she said.

Polar Promotion was established in 2007 and has been involved in light box advertising and production of the bus shelters with advertising space work on various streets of the city. To date, 30 bus shelters, including the new ones, have been installed by Polar at the bus stops in different corners of the city.