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Apartment Buildings of Addis Ababa
Not many people live in apartments in Addis Ababa or any parts of
Ethiopia. We are just fine with our small fenced houses (wooden, brick,
or mud) and at worst times living as debals (sub-leasers). The laundry,
chicken and sheep ceremony for our scores of holidays are just a few of
the conveniences of single-family dwellings in our cities. That is
not to say, however, that apartment living is not common. In fact, if
Ato Fasika Sidelil of the Dergue era had his way, we all would have been
living in 2-bed room apartments in Gerji and wearing ugly uniforms. And this brings us to the
"bbb-eee-ttt a...y....melesim" era---so named
after the infamous phrase of the PM who wrote
800-pages of his economic vision on RD (we even hate to spell it
out...but
for completeness...revolutionary democracy) that refuses to address the
issue of confiscated houses and buildings. 800-pages? No wonder
some refused to "swallow" the book and instead ended up in Maekelawii...Mr.
Alazar Dessie's rather brave comment on this document at the Hilton comes to mind [Sir,
after that comment, have you arranged for your family's safe-exit,
BTW?]. But that is a different story... |
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The pictures here show some of the
finest apartment buildings in the city. From lower-left going
clockwise: Anbessa Bldg, Bedilu Bldg, 3-story flat on Weavil Street near
Cathedral school, 8-story bldg on Churchil Road (near tele-Medhane
Alem..only in Ethiopia telecom and Our Savior are used to name a
place..BTW), St. George Terrace in the Tele Bar (Commercial School)
area, a 10-story bldg near Ras Hotel, a 5-story bldg at Mesqel square
and a 12-story apt bldg near Laibela Restaurant (stadium area). Our
favorite are the St. George Terrace and the one across Cathedral School.
Ok..ok...Bedilu Bldg (not exactly apt bldg) has a great architecture and
workmanship one can't find these days.
So, the question that comes to mind is: what the heck is the government doing with these buildings? Collecting rent and doing nothing and waiting until they fall down...of course! "Are you suggesting that they be returned to the 12 or so Aristocrats who owned Addis Ababa pre-74?" was a question that one of the photo essay members posed....Wait a minute here....this sentiment is not our official position, we should add...a heated argument arose amongst us (we all being of different background, feudal remnants, neo-revos, pacifists, qebele meeting goers, AAU drop-outs, etc, etc). After few drinks in a trendy bar at the G-Floor (adisaba lingo for ground level) of a bldg at Africa Avenue (Bole Rd., for those who have forgotten), we seemed to agree that any owner, except the government would do just fine....There were few hold-outs, however. So, we decided to let our readers voice their opinions on the issue. Comments? info@ethiopians.com |
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