Addis Fortune (Addis Ababa)
Wudineh Zenebe
21 January 2008
Addis Ababa — A wall constructed inside Ethiopia's second largest city to prevent flooding such as occurred during the tragedy in August 2006.
The Dire Dawa City Provisional Administration decided to accept the recommendations of a United Kingdom (UK)-based consulting firm and spend 217 million Br to protect the low-lying city from future floods.
The city will spend the money to construct four bridges, plant trees in catchment areas where the flood waters converge and construct a five kilometre-long wall on either side of the town. This project is expected to protect the city from floods for 200 years.
The city rejected an alternate recommendation from the firm to build an artificial lake. That option would have cost more, a total of 280 million Br, yet would only have protected the city for 25 years.
Abdulaziz Mohammed, mayor of the city, said that the administration has chosen the first option.
"The project will commence soon," he told Fortune.
Dire Dawa, 505Km east of Addis Abeba, was hit by a severe flash flood on August 6, 2006 in what is considered to be the worst in its history. Dire Dawa, which was established in 1910, has regularly suffered flooding. Last year's flood, however, surpassed them all in loss of human life, according to local elders. The flood in August 1981 was previously considered the worst in the town's history.
Last year's flood left 256 dead. Authorities in Dire Dawa believe that the real death toll may be even higher as there could be others that were not found during the search. The flood also damaged 50 million Br worth of property, including major or total damage to 1,000 houses in the flood prone areas of the town. Electric and telephone lines were destroyed, and roads and the main bus terminals of the cities were buried with sand.
Halcrow submitted its recommendations to the Ministry of Water Resources (MoWR) on November 27, 2007. The Ministry then gave the company's recommendations to the Dire Dawa Administration for comments.
The Administration eventually chose the first option two weeks ago. It also suggested the preparation of a more detailed study of the second option, contending that it be used as an input for other subsequent projects.
Sources told Fortune that the study would get implemented after it is endorsed by the National Early Disaster Warning Committee, headed by Addisu Legesse.
What is alarming to both the city authorities and officials of the federal government is that the frequency of intense flooding has increased; previously a large flood would strike every 20 years, then every decade since the 1980's and now every five years, according to elders.
Shocked by the disaster, the federal government gave the responsibility of tackling this predicament sustainalbly to MoWR. The Ministry commissioned Halcrow to study the susceptibility of Awash Basin areas and the Modjo bad land watershed management for 23 million Br.
The various studies conducted, however, did not include the city of Dire Dawa, until last year's tragedy prompted MoWR to ask for an additional study on this city which cost an extra 470,000 pounds financed by the African Development Bank (AFDB).
Dire Dawa's budget for 2007/08 is 300 million Br; 186 million Br of which is subsidy from the Federal government, while the balance is from its own revenue sources.
The City Administration is constructing flood barrier walls with 30 million Br as an immediate and short-term solution. The five land bridges between two villages across the river are to be razed as they are now blocking the passage of water.
"When these links were constructed five years ago, they were solutions but they are now messes," Abdulselim Ahmed, general manager of the city, told Fortune. "So they should be eliminated and be replaced with bridges."
However, the close to 30 million Br cost for each bridge has alarmed the city administration.
An official at the City Administration told Fortune that the federal government's support is indispensable as the budget proposed by Halcrow is also too high.
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