Mizan-Tepi University, one of the 50 state universities, announced plans to construct apartments and classrooms for an estimated investment of 640 million Br.

The five block apartments, which will rest on 11,550Sqm of land, will each have three storeys and include one, two and three-bedroom units, dining rooms and will have a communal facility shared by all members of the community. The project will also build 42 classrooms, 16 computer labs and six lecture halls on a 6,700Sqm parcel.

Expected to be operational in two years, the classrooms and lecture halls will have a capacity of hosting an average of 50 students and 150 students, respectively. MTT Consulting Architects & Engineers Plc, a local company founded in 2014, designed the blueprints and architectural renderings of the buildings, which were sent to the Construction Design & Supervision Works Corporation for evaluation.

The University, which has a 1.1 billion Br budget for the current fiscal year, will cover the construction cost.

Construction of the classroom is expected to commence in one month, according to Faris Delil (PhD), president of the University, which operates with two campuses located in Mizan-Teferi and Mizan-Tepi towns, 565Km and 578Km, respectively, to the southwest of Addis Abeba.

For the construction of the classrooms, the University floated a tender in May 2019. Five bidders passed the technical evaluation, and the University is evaluating the financial offers of the companies.

"The winning company will be announced within a week," said Faris.

The construction of the apartments is expected to begin in three months, according to Faris.

The apartments also include residential units for 145 lecturers, who will be selected based on seniority and family size.

Resting on a total of 104ha of land, the University operates with 749 lecturers. Until last year a total of 8,642 senior students attended the University, and 3,876 new students are expected to join the university this academic year.