We believe that it is imperative to comment on the commentary, headlined - "Can Access Real Estate be Saved?" (Volume 14, Number 687, June 30, 2013), written by Abdulmena Hamza. We agree with parts of the article.

It is certainly true that Access Real Estate's (ARE) emphasis on marketing and lack of emphasis on project execution led to catastrophic failures in meeting its commitments. While we have not yet reviewed contracts with ARE's vendors and subcontractors, it seems that proper safeguards were not in place to successfully penalise companies for a lack of performance.

A failure to use escrow accounts indicates a lack of sophistication within a "unpredictable and rough" business environment, as stated by Abdulmena. It is also true that the Board of Directors tolerated accounting practices and financial management that violated its fiduciary responsibilities.

We similarly agree that a competent Board of Directors needs to employ "a team of professionals, comprising of accountants, lawyers and engineers, in order to review the assets, liabilities, the work conducted so far and the existing contracts with suppliers of materials and contractors". Certainly, home buyers will need to fulfil their contractual obligations. A lack of cooperation between home buyers and ARE could force the company into bankruptcy, and will lead to maximum economic damage to home buyers.

We do, however, disagree that the Government of Ethiopia (GoE) cannot and should not play a valuable role in helping to resolve this crisis. We have reviewed ARE's construction planning data in detail, and it is clear that ARE has some very valuable assets. However, the current lack of liquidity is making the exploitation of these assets impossible.

For example, if the projects at the Nyala Motors site and Lebu were completed, ARE would generate some revenue from selling finished, currently unsold condo units. This would then finance the construction at other locations.

So what are some reasonable steps that the GoE can take, while still protecting their priorities of "lifting the poor from crushing poverty" and "fighting treatable diseases that kills thousands every year?"

A wide range of options could be employed, with varying degrees of government intervention, to help jump-start a return to operations. The alternatives range from actions that require minor government interventions to much more involved commitments. Some examples include the following:

The GoE could take direct control of ARE until the company stabilises and a suitable buyer can be found. An example of successful government intervention is that of India's Maytas Real Estate - the IT giant, Satyam's, construction business. Maytas went through a real estate crisis due to accounting irregularities and fraud. The construction of houses and condos came to a grinding halt because of liquidity issues.

The Indian government took control of Maytas. They acted as a caretaker, protecting homebuyers and then restructured the company for private equity. The fact that the government took control of Maytas gave confidence to stakeholders and also to potential private equity investors. The result was a win-win situation for both the Indian economy, as well as the homebuyers.

The GoE could also adopt a similar model to the one the US government used to salvage the then-troubled auto manufacturers, GM and Chrysler. The GoE could buy some shares, which are authorised but not issued from ARE, thereby giving ARE an option to re-structure and continue doing business. Once the condition stabilises, the government can sell back the shares. In return, a new management or Board of Directors may be appointed to represent government equities.

Currently, ARE has no way to enter capital markets, so loan guarantees are required to restart construction. Suggestion of the sale of other valuable ARE-owned properties would result in unacceptable delays, while awaiting appropriate investors willing to pay fair market prices, or would require fire sale pricing. These solutions are unacceptable. However, after a competent Board of Directors, a new ARE management team and home owner committees have agreed that an executable plan exists for finishing construction projects nearing completion, the government could help guarantee loans to complete these projects. These projects would generate the badly needed liquidity, in order to restart construction on projects at an early stage of development.

In return, the home owners would agree that the government would be first in line to recover funds, if the agreed plan failed to deliver finished projects. Home owners assume the financial risk, but in return, the government facilitates the required liquidity.

The government should intervene in lawsuits filed by individuals or groups of home buyers and creditors. It can assert itself as a party to any potential lawsuit against ARE, based on Article 42 the Ethiopian Civil Code. The basis for this intervention is the fact that the interest of thousands of home buyer are at stake.

The government can easily make the case that ARE did not have an escrow account and, as a result, all payments were made to ARE. Subsequently, ARE mingled the individual payments instead of securing the money, which was disbursed without checking construction progress.

ARE's largest assets are the home buyers' payments, which should have been kept in a trust account. The trust account would have protected home buyers from ARE, who sold units on an off-plan basis in the absence of a monitoring system to control the allocation of funds towards the construction of their houses.

Additionally, since technically home buyers' payments were disbursed prior to the construction schedule, when they should have been kept in an escrow account, these funds should not be considered as ARE's asset. Therefore, the interests of all buyers must be protected before individual claims are entertained.

The government could also facilitate and expedite title transfers to home buyers or their committees, for current investments. This could boost morale and possibly enable home buyers to get loans to finish their condos or houses.

The government could provide a valuable service by providing a government monitored escrow account to collect funds owed by home owners and to release funds based on projects progress. It would, thereby, provide a trusted agent to allow the monitored flow of ARE accounts receivable.

Not least, the government can take action using any combination of the major modalities listed above, in order to ameliorate the current crisis. Unlike what Abdulmena states, home buyers are not interested in "offloading their responsibility". It seems a little glib to blame many for making "negligent and ill-informed decisions". We will take responsibility, but it ought to be remembered that many home buyers are humble.

Expecting customers, who are domestic servants, labourers and office clerks to perform a full examination through a corporate due diligence process is simply unrealistic. We believe that the government does not wish to see home buyers suffer. That is why we feel that it is important for the government to step up and play a critical role in cleaning up the ARE mess.

The government has already played a positive role in encouraging Diaspora involvement in Ethiopia. It has also shown interest in legislating to regulate real estate developers. Its role in mitigating the harm resulting from ARE's financial problems would, therefore, help boost confidence and encourage future investment.

There is no viable alternative to the government's intervention, as there are no viable private party solutions. We, therefore, request that the government performs its own analysis of the crisis and works with home buyers to determine the best and most equitable solution.

Amsalu Duressa (eng.), Assi Spaulding and Samuel Alemu They Are Members of the Access Real Estate Home Buyers Committee in the United States.