Mereja.Forum

Mekelle is an attractive city. It was the capital city of Ethiopia during Emperor Yohannes IV. It has seen many wars and revolts. It is the most progressive city in Africa with liberal views on most issues. This makes Mekelle more important than any other town in Africa.

The location of Mekelle is ideal. Right across the sea is Mecca and Medina. Yemen is also close by. Some of the towns in Yemen and Arabia have similar names as some of our towns in Tigray. Town names like Rama are also common in Asia.

Meqelle is close to Middle East and Europe. An international airport that could serve destinations to Europe, USA, Russia and China should be based in Mekelle. This has nothing to do with politics. It is simply cost-effective and drives the economy 1000 x faster in the effort to join the advanced economies.

Mekelle's liberal views and it's population gentle approach to guests is a quality in itself. We call Ethiopia to invest in Mekelle International Airport. We read in the news a second international airport is to be built in Bishoftu, just 30 km from Bole Air Port. This is economically unwise as all planes have to travel an extra 1-2 hours to reach their destinations in Europe, Asia and America. This means more money to be paid and the environment might also suffer more pollution.

The main advantage of air travel is to save time. London to Mekelle takes 5 hours, whereas it takes 7 - 8 hours via Addis Ababa International Airport. Ethiopia's business community could expand it's business in the Middle East via Mekelle International Airport by exporting and importing goods. The travel expenses for tones of goods will be cheaper.

Bole International Airport is important for the diplomatic community and for others who want to travel to South Ethiopia. However, expanding Bole International Airport is simply expensive and a waste of resources. Mekelle International Airport and with a rail network to all regions of Ethiopia could save us billions of dollars a year.

If Ethiopia starts to generate electricity from the Nile Dam, then expansion of rail networks will be intensified. Cities like Gondar, Dessie, Kombolcha, Bahir Dar etc could be reached within 30 -45 minutes from Mekelle Railway Station. Ethiopians would pay peanuts to travel by train from Mekelle to any other destination.

The unity of Ethiopia could be only guaranteed when each region in Ethiopia is dependent on all other regions for it's own survival. No region should be poorer than any other. One way of balancing the economic development is careful distribution of resources. The case of air travel business is one. Another is the case of which region should be equipped with manufacturing sites. Which region is best fit for agro-industry etc?

In case of air travel, making the Addis Ababa Airport the largest airport in the world is not wise politically and economically. Ethiopia with a population 110million need more airports. Mekelle International Airport should be expanded for business and tourism. The dividends are higher than having the largest airport in the capital city. Developing the airport in Mekelle is the task of every Ethiopian and not only those living in Tigray.

Kimilam laba mekele get lost amhara region will never have railroads connecting to chigrag region. Dusty Mekele will never influence Abysinia/Amhara Region ever again go declare independence and fck off