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The Addis Abeba City Administration set up a
committee that revises its compensation policy in
accordance with a directive endorsed by the Council
of Ministers on expropriation of land holdings for
public purposes and payment of compensation. Headed
by Kassa Hailu, head of the City Land Development
and Administration Authority, the committee has nine
members arranged in three groups.
The first group studies how residents that would be
displaced for development purposes would be
compensated as well as how the directive the City
Administration approved in March 2007 would be
re-integrated in the latest directive.
This Cabinet amended upwards the previous directive
that awarded privately owned houses 2,000 Br per
square metre; the increase in compensation followed
from the Cabinet's decision to use the current
market value of building materials rather than the
previous figure, one computed using 1996 market
prices.
The second group works on how land holding
administrations are carried out as well as
determining how residents should obtain the title
deeds for the plots. The third group is expected to
come up with a proposal that amends all land-related
proclamations.
The study altogether envisions revising lease
proclamations, directives and written proclamations
seldom issued by authorities.
"Land proclamations are not consistent," a member of
the committee told Fortune. "There are even
cases where a directive written by a certain
official goes to the extent of repelling
proclamations, and this should be avoided."
The committee is instructed to finalise its study
between November 11 and April 10 working weekends
and holidays, sources told Fortune.
Parliament issued a proclamation that governs the
'expropriation of land holdings for public purposes
and payment of compensation three years ago.
However, its execution has yet to become effective,
as it could only be implemented when the directive
is endorsed by the Council of Ministers.
The city government has been using its own directive
issued in 2002. The amendment tabled to the Cabinet
chaired by Mayor Brehane Deressa was made based on
the federal proclamation. However, as the Council
has now been endorsed, all regional states can
devise their own directives within their respective
contexts.
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