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04 April 2007
The construction on the Adawa Bridge, in the Yeka District, by the Addis Ababa City Road Authority (AACRA), created the need for temporary housing as part of a compensation package for relocated families.
The Authority is building 58 homes made purely of corrugated sheet metal in the Kebelle 09/10 of the district. The shanty-style area created since AACRA began moving residents from around the construction site will be removed by mid-July, the same time that construction on the road is expected to be completed.
Ephraim Girma, administrator of the Kebelle told Fortune that once construction was completed, the residents would be moved into condominium housing or to other alternative houses.
"This is not a privilege that is granted to them, rather they are going to be given priority to purchase condominiums whether they have enlisted or not.
The people that are being given this opportunity though may not be able to afford it. In addition to the 16sqm corrugated sheet metal homes they have been given, residents have also been afforded monthly financial benefits.
A family that has fewer than eight members is given 500 Br a month from the Addis Abeba City Caretaker Administration (AACCA); families that have more than eight members receive 1,000 Br.
The plan, according to the Administration, is to have the residents purchase the condominiums with this money and any additional income that they may have.
AACRA does not have any legal responsibility to build homes for the people that they relocate during such construction projects, according to Fekadu Haile, manger.
"We are using the compensation aspect of our budget to provide homes to people that may not be able to afford rent in another location," he said. "What we are really mandated to do is smooth the traffic flow; in essence we are going beyond our duty in this regard."
Although most of the residents were moved from low-income living quarters, some are complaining that the replacements they have been handed are mere fractions of the homes that they used to reside in.
Kebede Beay, a relocated resident from around Kebele 28 football field told Fortune that his family had a better and more spacious home.
"We are expected to adapt to these conditions, but I have a seven member household; how is it that they expect us to live in 16sqm in dignity?" he queried.
Behailu Lisanu, a technician at AACRA, told Fortune that the size of houses being constructed by the Authority were larger than the homes that most of those relocated previously live in.
"They used to own homes that were between six and nine square metres wide, and now the standard is 16sqm, this is an improvement if anything," said Behailu.
Tadelech Shemete, relocated from Kebele 10, House Number 516, does not agree with this assessment. Prior to living in her new 16sqm sheet metal home, she owned one made of hollow blocks and had running water and electricity.
"We do not even have a toilet here," she told Fortune, "What kind of living conditions are these?"
Further stoking the embers with many residents is the original March 29, 2007 completion deadline that was set for phase one of the Adwa Bridge construction.
Last Saturday, March 24 six families were relocated from this site, just five days before the anticipated completion date.
An additional three families are expected to be moved next week to houses constructed in the former storage warehouse of the Addis Ababa City Housing Agency in the area commonly known as Gedera Hotel, in front of Nigat Kokeb School.
AACRA, which has completed the construction of 12 corrugated sheet metal houses for the Adwa Bridge site, made expenditures estimated at 10,000 Br.
The Authority is also planning to construct a total of 58 similar temporary houses for people to be relocated from the Adwa Bridge and surrounding construction area.
By FEKADU BESHAH - FORTUNE STAFF WRITER