Home Sweet Home

Ethiopians in the Diaspora are waiting eagerly to be registered for the housing project starting next October. All Ethiopians living in the Benelux (Belgium,Netherlands, and Luxemburg) countries will have to come to the Ethiopian Embassy toBrussels,Belgium, to be registered for the 40/60 financing arrangement.

The revised Diaspora policy will be issued soon and is hoped to answer pertinent questions that deal with issues like remittance or transferring the instalment settlements of accounts directly through banks or indirectly through attorneys. Many Ethiopians in the Diaspora, because they lack citizenship in their new countries, cannot deposit their earnings in any European bank because every single cent has to be accounted for by legal sources.

Ethiopians wanting to fix the transfer arrangements outside the banking systems are eagerly awaiting the revised policy to solve these obstacles. Many amongst the Diaspora only have a “yellow card”. With this card, it is not legally possible to transfer funds or assign attorneys to process their earnings through banks.

The most frequently asked question coming from Diaspora members is about land. This question is seen from various angles in connection with the housing project.

Many would like to have their own plot of land and start building a house as soon as possible. Some would like to know where in Addis Abeba these new houses would be located. They would also like to know ahead of time what kind of building they are going to have for their money.

The present trend is to demolish old villages and congested squatter areas, although it is not known which are going to be demolished and where the people who live there are going to be resettled. The planned common housing is predicted to separate families in the city at different sites.

Another question they usually have is how long construction will take and when they can move in. Some eight or nine years ago, over 450,000 home seekers were registered out of which only a quarter have been able to move into their new homes. There are twice as many new numbers of applicants registered so far.

Of course, the circumstances differ. The completion period could be different. Some argue that with the experiences acquired so far it is possible the new projects will be completed sooner than in the past.

 

There are others, however, who argue differently. They say that many common homes will have to be constructed at different sites on former villages or at new locations on the outskirts of the capital, and a lot of new infrastructure will have to be built. For example, new water wells or additional dams, sewerage ducts and treatment plants. The infrastructure needs to be studied, designed and built separately but as part of a coordinated plan that does not interfere with older infrastructure already present.

There have been allegations of unfairness or nepotism involved with the housing process. In some cases, applicant registration could not be found in any computer records. The responsible officials change so frequently that applicants do not have anyone to point their fingers at.

There are also allegations, unproven as they may be, that some of the homes were delivered based on political allegiance. In some cases, finished houses are said to have been waiting vacant for years, while many home seekers are kept waiting for ages.

There are others who strongly argue that such massive investments on housing ought not to be monopolistic undertakings in the first place. The municipality officials claim that they aim to give every city dweller the democratic right of owning property through encouraging the less fortunate to own a house on a similar plot of land. Facts on the ground show that as soon as a poor resident is given a house, he or she sells it to someone else who is in dire need of housing.

That, of course, defies the municipality principles of equitable housing distribution to all residents. Some argue that taking away plots of land from farmers or others to construct houses amounts to no less than making the municipality a monopolistic business enterprise.

There are others who claim that city officials or the concerned ministry are simply investing the public money collected from taxes. Unbalanced public investment in so many houses at the same time comes at the expense of other projects or social services, instead of involving private companies.

Even if private companies are not prohibited from constructing houses, officially competing for building materials and skilled man power could render them idle and out of business. The municipality would, therefore, be in a better position to strike the balance and go ahead with its plans.

InBelgiumand other European countries, houses are acquired or sold like any other commodity. There are special real estate publications that advertise accommodation. Residencies are posted on the Internet so that buyers can see photos of every room.

Each commune (equivalent to a kebele administration) is given the budget to build houses and lease them for low income groups. One can acquire land from private owners or from the communes. There are organised agencies that can be contacted by individuals who are interested in owning houses. Buying and selling houses is not a big deal in Belgium, like it is in Ethiopia.


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