Sep 28 , 2019
By TEMESGEN MULUGETA ( FORTUNE STAFF WRITER )


Oromia Regional State's housing bureau announced the impending completion of buildings designated for 15 public offices in Sarbet, a lengthy project that consumed 220 million Br.

Oromia Regional State's housing bureau announced the impending completion of buildings designated for 15 public offices in Sarbet, a lengthy project that consumed 220 million Br.

Under construction for the past five years, the three buildings have seven storeys each and are planned to be fully completed next month. The government agencies and institutions are expected to move into the buildings once finished.

The Oromia Agriculture & Environmental Protection Bureau, the Oromia Trade & Market Development Bureau, the Oromia Roads Authority and Oromia Science & Technology are among the institutions which will move into the new buildings. These offices have been residing in rental buildings in the meantime.



Resting on 600Sqm of land, each building is equipped with elevators, generators and conference halls, which can accommodate 200 people. The Oromia Urban Development & Housing Bureau started the construction of the buildings in 2015, and the project was delayed for one year.


The initial delay was due to boundary demarcation that was not completed on time and a shortage of foreign currency, according to Tesfaye Temesgen, communications team leader at the Housing Bureau, which has 155 employees and began the construction of houses 13 years ago in 16 towns of the regional state.

The Bureau has built 21,000 condominium houses so far and transferred the housing units to 88,000 people.




Divided into three lots, the construction of the offices is taking place in front of other Oromia Regional State buildings, located around Sarbet. Three companies undertook the construction under the supervision of Oromia Water Works Design & Supervision Enterprise, the regional state's developmental institution that was established in 2006, and works in consultancy services for engineering projects.

Oromia Construction Works Enterprise; Gutema Firisa Construction, a company that was established in 2007 and has completed over 12 projects; and Bereket Endeshaw General Contractor, which was founded in 2008 and operates with 200 employees, are the project's contractors.


The Bureau is aimed at solving the shortage of working space, minimising rental expenses and facilitating the better provision of services, according to Tesfaye.

“During the construction, constant price increases of construction materials was another challenge,” said Reta Belay, manager of the project, which created job opportunities for a total of 300 peoples.

Zewdie Shibire (PhD), a lecturer in the management department of Addis Abeba University's School of Business & Economics, appreciates the construction of the buildings for having an impact on service efficiency.

Clustering the offices into one place will help the offices give effective and timely services and the customers can get many services in one place, according to Zewdie.


He argued that it will save an enormous amount of money that would be spent by the regional government in paying rent for these offices.

Every year the Oromia Regional State spends 60 million Br from the regional budget on office rent.

"Other government institutions should take a lesson from this," said Zewdie.



PUBLISHED ON Sep 28,2019 [ VOL 20 , NO 1013]


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