Addis Ababa: The ongoing corridor development endeavors in Addis Ababa enabled the administration to further promote the city’s heritage sites by renovating and opening up for visitors, Mayor of Addis Ababa Adanech Abiebie said.
According to Ethiopian News Agency, the development of riverside projects underway in the capital has transformed rivers from sources of health hazards into tourist destinations, Mayor Adanech further revealed. In an exclusive interview, Addis Ababa City Administration Mayor Adanech Abiebie noted that the corridor development has revitalized the city’s heritage sites and opened them up for visitors.
The heritages found in several places in the city, which had not been identified and were unknown before as heritage, have been identified, renovated, and opened to tourists, she said. The heritages around Piassa, Arat Kilo, Churchill Street, and the Municipality areas have been renovated and opened for tourists, she cited as instances.
Following this development, domestic and foreign t
ourists are coming to visit the heritages and historical sites, she pointed out, adding that hidden heritages have been restored and protected, and the operations of the management have been strengthened.
The Mayor also disclosed that the corridor development has made a significant contribution in reducing the city’s major challenges and cited the changes in terms of increasing the city’s green cover, improving traffic flow, reducing parking shortages, and preventing traffic accidents.
For the Mayor, the corridor development has demonstrated that infrastructural institutions have efficiently carried out projects in collaboration, by starting and finishing projects quickly, developing a culture of working 24 hours a day, week in and week out. Stating that the corridor development has proved anything can be attained through hard work, the Mayor further underscored that the corridor development has changed the underlying perception, i.e., in order for the development to bring about change, it requires cultural
change; and this takes time.
On the other hand, Mayor Adanech recalled that the city’s rivers had lost their natural beauty, turning from a blessing to a disaster. She elaborated that the sources of the rivers had dried up and become contaminated, and the sewage resulted in the suffering of many people living along the rivers from contaminations.
Hence, the corridor development has transformed rivers from disaster-prone areas into tourist destinations, she stated. She added that infrastructure development activities have been carried out on rivers that will bring about fundamental changes and affirmed that the riversides are being developed to become tourist destinations and recreational areas.