The old heart of Addis Ababa has, for too long, been the result of an actual lazy work force. This old heart of the City includes places such as Piasa, Erri Bekentu, Arat Kilo, Aware, Kera, Mercato etc. All these neighbourhoods, until recently, had been congested slums, with some historical buildings and heritages.
It is not only the above mentioned parts of the City, which have been surrounded by congested slums but for the unfortunate economic status of the public and lazy management of the past City administrations, Addis Ababa has been increasingly swarmed up by shanty places in its many corners lately.
Administrations of the Derg regime, for good causes built millions of shades for poor residents of the City. These poor people lived in the shanty shades with very low, almost for free, rental payments for many years.
The economic growth during the Ethiopian People’s Democratic Front (EPDRF) regime, encouraged a passive working culture between the public and forced uneducated innocent poor mothers to carry the economic burden of their households, as they continued raising their children with daily incomes from selling cabbages, fruits, fast foods with low prices. In the process the EPDRF had also encouraged ruthless entrepreneurs to build their own empires and leave the poor behind.
As the rich got richer, the poor remained poor. The rich kept on scrambling parts of the City. The then elites didn’t stop by scrambling Addis Ababa but also expanded to the lands of the nearby cities of Oromia State. Meanwhile, the poor continued to get used to the low income miserable life style, which they afford by doing hard labour or selling local alcohols and whatever else worth to maintain their family’s routine lives.
Of course poor uneducated mothers and sisters wouldn’t complain as long as they and their children were still under their shanty shades for low rent money. This reality continued for many years as some people prospered and the mass went poor. It made people to remain captives of, the result of a lazy work force or culture.
Most of the mothers wouldn’t raise their children right because they have to fight with economic inflation, bad governance and other family and social problems. So, many of their children wouldn’t commit to labour work or education. Children were still being spoiled by low standard education and poverty which would lead them to choose the hard ways of life, such as illegal migration, theft, commercial sex and drug abuse. This was the result of a lazy work force of past regimes and it needed a paradigm shift.
That is why the city administration has to come up with new approach of a city development. Giving deaf ear to draggy political criticism of people on social platforms was also vital in the implementation process. The then lazy working culture had also left many with unaffordable ethnic scandals that made them interpret every development activities negatively.
The best example for this would be the construction of the Addis Ababa Corridor Development Project. When it begun, people who lived in those shanty neighbourhoods had to be relocated to better and modern apartments, but the loud mouths on social platforms would say the project targeted at dislodging the poor from their residences or livelihoods. They didn’t stop there. They added that the demolition of the old slums was meant to create a new demography by settling a specific ethnic group on those places. There have tried everything to agitate the residents of Addis Ababa by fabricating several reckless stories.
However, areal working force has taken over the City and the development started with a speedy pace. The residents of Addis Ababa gave also deaf ears to the social platforms and went on cooperating with the government. Task force comprised of higher officials of the City Administration is still effectively monitoring the construction day and night. Addis Ababa is turning in to a new flower as its name depicts.
Not only the corridor development projects but also other initiatives that will change the residents’ life style and bring Addis Ababa to a modern standard are launched by the Premier. Who would hate to live a modern and healthy life style in a big city except for those who are poisoned by ethnic lunacy or racism? In this case, people who live by social platform incomes must stop fabricating false and distractive stories just for their own fancy life abroad. Whether they like it or not they must also accept the reality that residents are enjoying the development and Addis Ababa is blooming.
The new working culture that flourished in connection with the corridor development and contemporary projects have laid a benchmark for the efficient execution of similar initiatives. They have also made the future of the City is beyond hopeful. Cooperative and positive attitude of the public is an indication that a new working force is taking over the City and there is no doubt Addis Ababa will shine bright and prosper in a near future.
BY HENOK TIBEBU
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD TUESDAY 23 JULY 2024
