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The century old main railway station in Addis Abeba,
La Gare, a property of the Ethio-Djibouti
Railway Enterprise, is threatened with the prospect
of demolition soon should federal and city officials
fail to agree on the passage of a road that may have
to pass through it.
Junadin Sado, minister of Transport and
Communications, requested the Addis Abeba Caretaker
Administration on April 22 - a copy of the request
was given to the Ministry of Works and Urban
Development (MoWUD) - to prepare a substitute plot
in compensation for the 150,000sqm land inside the
railway that will be used for the road construction.
The total area where the railway station lies is
380,000sqm. A little less than half of this chunk of
land is expected to be used for the city road
construction project.
The road is a project of the Addis Abeba City Roads
Authority (AACRA) and is proposed to stretch from
Cherkos area to Churchill Avenue, cutting right
through the station. So far, the city roads
authority has finalized two kilometers of its
project, and is now stuck with only a kilometer left
to completion of the project. Designed by AACCRA,
this road is 40m wide with 20m separating the rift
(island) in the middle. As it approaches the
station, the road is designed to widen up to
encircle the 100-year old Ethio-Djibouti
headquarters structure. If this plan is pursued, the
station will eventually lose its offices, staff
cafeteria and Buffet de La Gare, a restaurant
owned by the Enterprise but leased out to private
operators.
But this plan will leave the main building in the
middle of an island of the road, disconnecting it
from incoming or outgoing rails.
This plan has disappointed the management of the
Enterprise, which has suggested the revision of the
design to make the road an overpass, in order to
avoid affecting the station. This proposal was not
accepted, though.
"This is a property of two governments, and a
100-year old heritage," an official from the
Enterprise told Fortune. "It should not simply be
bulldozed."
A proclamation issued in 1958 stipulates that any
structure put up before 1858 must be considered a
national heritage. However, this has not been
incorporated in the Heritage Protection Proclamation
issued in 2000. This has created room for the wiping
out of such relics, according to an activist for the
preservation of heritages.
"Substantial revenues could be grossed by making the
railway station a tourist site," she said.
Even if the Enterprise is made to surrender part of
the station, it should be given an alternative plot
adjacent to the current station, the official said.
The letter, issued by Junadin, strongly urges the
city to provide replacement plots and compensation
to be paid to the Enterprise.
The project by the city roads authority, which
directly meets the Moa Anbessa monument standing in
La Gare, will demolish 20 houses under
kebelle ownership, six private abodes and 59 other
houses around the station.
Mayor Brehane Deressa, who is to leave office this
May, has directed the letter to the city manager's
office. Deputy General Manager of the city, Feleke
Yimer, was busy last week sorting out a possible
implementation of the request.
Minister Junadin was not available for comment;
Fortune has learnt he was on a visit abroad.
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