Land and Housing are by and large and arguably the most important and most demanding issues of our time. Also land property and housing residence are not only important but indeed indispensable for citizens of any nation. An important discussion was held few days ago by the Housing Administration and Construction Ministry and the Ethiopian Diaspora Association.
The discussion and briefing focused on the concerns and problems that the Diaspora community has been raising for years. The main concerns are on Housing, Land ownership, rental issues and information sharing among others. Those concerns raised by the Diaspora community are by and large legitimate, legal and rightful; however, there were also few questions and demands that are out of reality i.e. that do not fulfill the pre-requisites and requirements associated with the issues in question and the legalities of land and housing issues.
Those questions and demands were based on the gap of information on both sides. The main question that was raised by almost all participants is the question of the 40/60 condominium and their transfer to those who paid in full and have not yet received the houses they paid for. What they were expecting was to get the houses they paid for; however, what they did not know or were not aware of was the basic economics issue i.e. the supply, demand and equilibrium phenomenon.
There is a gap between the supply and demand and there is no equilibrium on both as well. Although Diasporas were promised that they will get their houses once they paid in full, the demand for housing was way higher than the supply of houses. As a result, there were few houses and more people who paid in full; thus, Diasporas could not receive what they have been promised. What is more awkward and astonishing is that none of those who paid in full had yet to receive houses.
Diasporas have to wait until more houses are built and nobody seems to know when that will happen. In the mean time, Diasporas feel that they are in a limbo. Various answers were given by the appropriate officials in a very clear and unequivocal way and as a result, many ambiguities, concerns and confusions regarding the issues raised were clarified.
Clear understandings emanated from the discussion helped the Diaspora community to learn more about their rights and responsibilities and the kind of services they expect from the Ministry. Likewise, the Ministry was able to understand more about the demands of the Diaspora community vis-à-vis the services it renders to the Diaspora community.; however, there seems to be some misunderstanding with regard to the time of delivery of fully paid houses, the bottlenecks especially at the lower bureaucratic echelon and to the issue of supply and demand phenomenon in general.
Some options and recommendations were put forward by the Diaspora Community in order to help the Ministry to come up with some options that may solve those problems or at least help the office to minimize the challenges encountered by the office. It was agreed that those and other recommendations will be considered, will be thoroughly studied and evaluated sooner than later. Here are some options that the office can use vis-à-vis the issue in question.
The office of the Ministry can begin with web-site construction in order to reach the Diaspora community and in order to enhance communication and information sharing using its web sites. The office of the ministry can use other media outlets in addition to its web site to reach the Diaspora community.
The office of the Ministry can reach professional Ethiopians and by birth Ethiopians in the Diaspora and start to take advantage of their expertise, knowledge and background to its advantage there by to benefit the nation and the public at large The office can also work in collaboration with professional architects in the Diaspora engaging them in planning, designing and other major project works and make sure the office gets the look and the design it wants.
The office can explore the experiences of other countries with regard to urban planning, housing and residence planning and construction development and there are many developed countries that pass many impediments but finally were able to resolve almost all encountered challenges; for example, Canada is one of them. The office must be prepared for a change and if preparation is done carefully, then the plan, design and major project works can go exactly accordingly.
Herald January 12/2019
