Addis is plagued with housing problems. A friend of mine calls Addis a big slum. He lives in one of the impoverished sefers (who doesn’t?); he always says that he lives in a smaller slum located in the bigger slum (Addis). Well, it’s true (or has been true for many years).
But now we can witness a wave of new constructions in Addis. Whenever I visit places where I haven’t been to for a while, I’m greeted with at least one new high-rise building ready to serve and another being constructed. The western style luxury houses constructed by real estate companies in the suburbs bring nostalgic feelings to returnees. The nouveaux riches, returnees and the upper middle class are direct beneficiaries of this economic surge. But for the likes of my friend who live in the slums, this means nothing. They even blame the rising cost of living in Addis on this economic surge.
I, however, see a little hope whenever I think of the condominium buildings being constructed by the government. I see them everywhere. They are not as posh as the older government owned apartment buildings we see in Bole, Arat Kilo, Piassa, etc. Just a look at them and one would understand what I mean by this. These buildings are thought to curb the housing problem in Addis. I’m sure they will - no matter how much irregular the distribution system is. People often complain that the condos are not well built. Well, it’s a low cost housing project and should not be expected to be as good as the workmanship displayed in the older apartments. Moreover, they’re much better than the houses found in the slums.
The condos will contribute to effectively reducing the housing problems in Addis; they are changing the landscape of Addis that’s filled with rusty corrugated sheet roofs reinforced with pieces of basalt rocks.
And a word or two about the older apartments: these apartments are being painted and we wonder if it’s for the “millennium. By the way, the millennium celebrations were officially launched yesterday – the date was brought forward by 3 days to coincide with the World Environment Day. The highlight of the day was the 'Two Trees for 2000' project. Good enough. But the cynic in me tells me he’s afraid all this is just to attract attention and not much good will come from it. Yet, I WANT to believe and hope that our country is on a better course. Too optimistic?????
