Addis Fortune (Addis Ababa)
Wudineh Zenebe
22 July 2008
The Addis Abeba Lease Board last week made a decision to resume distributing of land for investment three months after the Caretaker Administration stopped transfers during the transition of power to the new administration led by Mayor Kuma Demeksa.
Signed by Abdulaziz Mohammed, head of the Mayor's office, the letter was distributed to the office of the city's general manager, and other bureaus.
The Caretaker stopped transferring land for investment and other purposes in April this year following an instruction from the Office of the Prime Minister. The instruction was intended to curb the possible illegal transfer of plots that was often witnessed during transition periods.
The new City Lease Board, which held its first assembly early this month, would therefore start discussing which plots to give out first.
"The City Land Development and Administration Authority has been ordered to study which land requests to prioritize," a source disclosed.
Close to 200 companies are expecting to be granted plots, after putting their money into a blocked account. The Office of the Prime Minister had also ordered the Caretaker Administration to undertake the construction of hotels with 10,000 beds in a bid to alleviate the hotel shortages in Addis.
The previous administration subsequently auctioned nine plots. but could not grab the attention of an adequate number of participants. Although the administration re-tendered the plots, the Lease Board immediately passed a decision banning any transfers of land until the new administration assumes office.
The city administration expects sizeable proceeds from the sale of land in the next budget year. It expects to earn 2.4 billion Br only from transfers, pending the leasing of 2,400hct of land in 2008/2009 by the central Lease Board.
According to an official in the city administration, this is an ambitious target.
"The largest amount of land transfer so far is 500hct per year," he told Fortune. "The plan is close to five-fold of this figure."
One of the challenges this administration would face is the lack of adequate manpower as some bureau officials were put under custody for alleged corruption. The Federal Ethics and Anti Corruption Commission during the Caretaker Administration apprehended over 60 city officials. Some have since resigned, anticipating drastic measures being taken against them.
The new city administration plans to start the implementation of Business Process Re-engineering (BPR) in order to tackle the challenges experienced with the existing staff. The new system aims at giving additional responsibilities to city officials, sources disclosed.
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