A new master plan comes to Adama

 To sign sister city agreement with Denver

The Adama City Administration is going to prepare a new masterplan for the fast growing commercial town in the Oromia Regional State. 

In an exclusive interview with The Reporter, Ahmed Yuosef, deputy mayor of Adama town, said that in collaboration with the New York University the city administration is undertaking a study on a new city masterplan. 

Ahmed said that since Adama is growing fast there was a need for a new masterplan. The new masterplan will comprise a residential area, commercial centers and industrial areas, among others. According to the deputy mayor, the New York University will provide technical assistance while the World Bank will provide financial aid to the project. 

Ahmed said that the Adama City Administration is holding talks with Denver City to cooperate on various city development works. “We are preparing  to sign a sister city agreement,” Ahmed said. 

Adama was established in 1915 following the construction of the Ethio-Djibouti railway. The city that occupies 133.6 sq. km of land in the rift valley now has a population of 300,000. It lies 98 km south-east of Addis.

The city administration is undertaking various infrastructure activities. New asphalt roads have been built. Cobblestone and gravel roads have been constructed. Flood preventing cannels have been also built. The city administration is constructing a new ten km asphalt ring road that goes around the town. The ring road will enable trucks coming from Djibouti to avoid the trouble of going through the city. 

In a related development the city administration is to build new condominium houses under the 20-80 and 40-60 housing project program. A representative of the Adama Housing Development Office, Lemessa Tura, told The Reporter that the office is under preparation to embark on the construction of new condominium houses.

Lemessa said the project proposal was recently endorsed by Chefe Oromia (Oromia Regional State Council). He said the construction sites have been selected for the new housing project. However, he said the required budget and the number of houses that are going to be built was not yet determined. The office has so far built 2,769 condominium houses. According to Lemessa, two years ago the office registered 16,000 residents who seek condominium houses.