City Administration Intensifies Restoration of Jan-Meda for Timket Celebration

Addis Ababa December 14/2013 (ENA) With the celebration of the UNESCO registered Timket fesival approaching, restoration of Jan-Meda, the open field where the festival is celebrated, has been intensified, Addis Ababa City Deputy Mayor Adanech Abiebie said today.

In an exclusive interview with ENA, the deputy mayor said besides being a place where Timket is celebrated, Jan-Meda is a place for hosting many social events and sports.

“We are (therefore) working to restore the place to its previous stature. The restoration needs lots of work and we have started ahead of time because it has been serving as a vegetable market for months following the COVID-19 pandemic,” she elaborated.

Adanech noted that Timket is one of Ethiopia's biggest tourist attractions. It's a UNESCO registered  festival with huge social values. “ So, when we say we have to beautify and finalize the restoration of Jan-Meda for the celebration of Timket, all of its contributions is taken into consideration --- be it tourism, revenue or religious value.”  

According to her, the city's vegetables market would be moved to the Haile Garment area. It was earlier moved  from Atikilt Tera, near Piassa, to Jan-Meda because of COVID-19.

Meanwhile, the deputy mayor disclosed that it would complete the construction of the major part of Meskel Square this month.

This part of the project is near completion. It is reportedly an ultra-modern project which could  park over 1,400 vehicles at a time and accommodate various shops.

Despite the impressive efforts to complete the main part of Meskel-Square project, part of the project which is beautifying the street that stretches from Meskel-Square via Churchill Street to the City Administration has been delayed due to sideline activities, including buildings alongside the streets, it was learned.