Around 70 Shops In Atkilt Tera Told To Vacate Within 48 Hrs

May 31, 2013

Addis Abeba- The Addis Abeba Trade and Industry Bureau and Housing Agency have today (May 31, 2013) ordered around  70 shop owners in Atekelt Tera, Ethiopia’s largest vegetable market, to vacate their shops within 48 hours. They have been warned that legal measures would be taken unless they leave  before the deadline.

A trader told De Birhan that they were told due to infrastructural developments in the area such as roads and railway construction, which will pass through these shops, they need to immediately leave the shops.

The order has reportedly come as a shock to most of the traders who owned the shops for decades and depended on the trade.

De Birhan’s sources say around 500 merchants and 5000 labourers are at risk of losing their job due to the new measure. Although, the merchants have complained and appealed to the officials of the Housing Agency, they said they were “given a deaf ear”.