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HAN
Note:  IGAD
Breaking News (HAN) April 4th, 2007.
 Somaliland
HAN Editors:
The Geeska Afrika Editorial Board and HAN Regional
Reporters would like to appeal to our readers and observers to Facilitate
regional commentary amicably to act as an independent, objective and impartial body so
the remaining days can bear the long awaited fruits. This is a self syndicated column. If you wish to publish this
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The future of Harar is tourist attraction
Djibouti
(HAN) April 4th, 2008 - Harar city and the capital of
former Islamic Kingdom of Harar was the site of the former home
of French poet Arthur Rimbaud, who lived there in the late
1800s. The airy, colorful house is now an art gallery showing
modern photography and Ethiopian crafts.
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The Horn of African Journalist
Association (HAJA): han@geeskaafrika.com
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EAbdurahman Ibrahim, 38, who lived in Harar as a child but recently
returned for a visit, said the city has become much more alluring to
tourists.
"Everything has changed," said the Toronto, Ontario, resident. "Most of
the things for the better. The city has grown so much. The road is
better. The electricity is better. The water is better."
Still, as Harar moves further into the modern world, many locals say
they're proud of the past.
"The basic thing is we want to protect this culture, to keep it as it is
for the next generation," said Zeydan Bekri, a lifelong Harari who
lobbied the United Nations for five years to get the UNESCO designation.
For 1,000 years, Harar, now in the Federal republic of Ethiopia, a city
on a hilltop, has been a center of Islamic faith in the Horn of Africa,
with a forbidding, 13-foot wall surrounding ancient mosques and
serpentine alleyways.
Now, Harar leaders are hoping it can become a center of tourism as well.
"The future of Harar is tourist attraction," said regional president
Murad Abdulhadi.
Harar was named a UNESCO World Heritage site last year, joining some of
the world's top landmarks such as the Grand Canyon in the United States,
the Great Wall of China and the Acropolis in Greece.
It is also the fourth holiest city in Islam - behind Mecca, Medina and
Jerusalem. And some consider Harar the birthplace of coffee. Its aroma
wafts through the cool air of the Ethiopian highlands.
Some of Harar's attractions defy easy explanation, such as the old man
who hand-feeds some 50 hyenas every night, treating them like obedient
kittens.
But the city, which lies some 250 miles from the capital, Addis Ababa,
lacks modern amenities and suffers from a chronic water shortage. With
only a handful of hotels and the nearest airport more than an hour's
drive away, moving Harar into the future is an ambitious plan.
Abdulnasser Idriss, who heads Harar's tourism department, acknowledges
the city faces "a big problem" in accommodating any more than the 4,500
tourists who come here each year.
In order to speed development, the regional government has given a
10-year tax break to anyone interested in building tourist facilities.
Federal officials also say they are planning to make Harar and its
neighboring city, Dire Dawa, part of an advertising campaign to lure
tourists from neighboring Djibouti.
Other incentives include land awards and free technical advice on
construction projects, said Federal Minister of Culture and Tourism
Mohamoud Dirir.
Ethiopian officials would not say how much has been invested so far, but
construction is everywhere: unfinished hotels and restaurants dot the
road leading into the main part of the city.
Oil baron Sheik Mohammed Alamoudi, believed to have invested more than
$1 billion in his native country, has sent a team to Harar at the
request of regional officials to investigate potential to build the
city's first luxury hotel.
"Things are coming up," said Mohamoud, the culture and tourism minister.
"We are very optimistic."
The city is also planning a $34.5 million water project that will
increase Harar's available water supply more than sevenfold. Each
resident in Harar now gets five gallons of water per day.
But what Harar lacks in modern amenities it more than compensates for in
ancient wonders: nearly 100 old mosques, fortress-style walls, alleyways
filled with ancient homes.
Opinion Contributed by :
HAN Reporter in Nairobi and notes from ANITA POWELL AP
HAN
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