Simcon Technologies plc, under the parent company, Smart Management Services, has launched an environmentally friendly and affordable housing project. The company inaugurated the first ever villa constructed solely by plastic waste bottles, 61,000 of them in fact, at an event held on Thursday February 8. The new project took over 18 months from the first studies to the finished product. It was applied at a plot located on the outskirts of Adama, 99km east of Addis Ababa by Simcon, which has developed several innovative business in the past couple of years.
According to Adel Abdella (PhD), CEO of Smart Management Services, it was difficult to convince engineers. “It took time to realize the project since it was considered unfeasible by engineers who believed that at the very least the building needed a steel structure,” he added.
Adel told Capital that the villa from its foundation is constructed without steel or stone, but instead one liter plastic bottles filled with soil are used to construct the entire outer wall. “The interior partition of the villa has three bedrooms, two washrooms and a living room and kitchen and they all were built with with half-liter size plastic bottles,” he added.
The house only took three weeks to build, without the finishing work. It was shown to representatives from government offices in Oromia and the federal government. The project owners gave detailed explanations about the plastic bottle housing project, which has become a viable option in Asian, Latin America and even some African countries.
“These type of housing projects have become well accepted in countries like India and Bangladesh and even public facilities like hospitals or education centers that are constructed with waste plastic bottles,” Adel explained. He said that a G+4 houses were also constructed in India without any additional steel structures and he also expects to commence a G+1 building in the same compound he built this house in at Adama.
The CEO of Smart Management Services plc, a holding company for several businesses operating in education, agriculture, hospitality, manufacturing, and consultancy sectors and others said that several international studies have been conducted about the benefit and the effect of the plastic bottle houses. He said that the house constructed by plastic bottles is very durable and is even stronger than conventional houses and is a good opportunity for arid/hot areas since its ventilation is natural and does not exceeded more than 18 degrees Celsius. “Studies indicate that a house constructed by plastic bottles has a strength of 20 times a house erected by clay brick,” Adel explained to visitors who attended the inaugural.
According to studies, in terms of cost the house project constructed with soil filled plastic bottles is significantly less expensive than conventional houses sometimes up to 70 percent less. For instance the model house constructed at Adama on 100 square meters consumed only 342,000 birr, while according to the conventional cost a professionally done house would cost 1.2 million birr.
Adel believes that the technology will be a good opportunity to alleviate housing problems in urban areas since little land is available. “We have been able to construct a villa with three bedrooms that would be considered a luxury but with a very reasonable cost. If the area is minimized and the number of bedrooms reduced the cost will also go down,” he added.
“Besides the stated benefits the main issue would be the environmental protection that recently has affected our planet because of these kinds of plastic bottles,” experts from Ministry of Science and Technology said. The model villa has consumed about 53,000 plastic bottles for the house, and 8,000 for the rest of the compound.
Simcon Technologies is a company formed two years ago to produce construction related products. They are currently producing artificial marble and granite tiles with the composition of soil and sand at Kality. “We have a patent right from Ethiopian Intellectual Property Office for the production of such tiles that enable us to reduce the imported volume,” the owner said.
House in Adama built entirely of used plastic bottles
Number of girls at risk for FGM/C increasing, more investment needed
A rising number of girls are at risk of being exposed to Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/C) in Ethiopia according to UNICEF and UNFPA. The two UN agencies stated that they will be working together for strengthened efforts and underlined the need for increased investment and higher political commitment to end the problem.
“To accelerate the elimination of the practice, we need to work at the grassroots level, at scale and hand-in-hand with communities – boys and girls, women and men, and most importantly, traditional and religious leaders – to reach the hearts and minds of millions of people. We also believe that it is important to address the health and psychological complications caused by FGM/C by providing the necessary health services to help survivors lead a healthy life,” said UNICEF Representative in Ethiopia Gillian Mellsop.
In Ethiopia, the government expressed its commitment to ending FGM/C and child marriage by the year 2025 at the London Girls’ Summit in 2014 and committed itself to reducing the practice to 0.5 per cent by 2020 in the Growth and Transformation Plan. The Government has also taken key programmatic actions which include endorsement of the National Strategy and Action Plan on Harmful Traditional Practices against Women and Children as well as establishment of the National Alliance to End Child Marriage and FGM/C.
“We have seen that rates of female genital mutilation can drop rapidly in places where the issue is taken on wholeheartedly by governments, by communities, by families. Where social norms are confronted, village by village, where medical professionals come together to oppose the practice, where laws are enacted to make it a crime and where those laws are enforced. Where wider access to health, education and legal services ensure sustainable change. Where girls and women are protected and empowered to make their voices heard,” said Ms. Bettina Maas, UNFPA representative to Ethiopia.
The Sustainable Development Goals recognize that female genital mutilation undermines progress towards a more equal, just, and prosperous world. They set an ambitious target of eliminating all such harmful practices against girls and women by 2030. UNICEF and UNFPA globally devoted the theme of the year 2018 – “Ending Female Genital Mutilation is a political decision” – to engaging government bodies and policy makers to join efforts.
The 2016 Ethiopia Demographic and Health Survey shows a declining trend in FGM/C from 74 percent in 2005 to 65 per cent in 2015 in the age group 15-49 years, and from 62.1 percent to 47 percent in the 15-19 year old age group. The survey also shows a more significant decrease in the younger age cohort compared to the older: prevalence is 75 percent in the age group 35-49 years, 59 percent in the 20-24 year age group, and 47 per cent in 15-19 year olds.
Michael Belayneh’s new single video released
The pop star Michael Belayneh marks his musical comeback with the track ‘Sike Eshegnshalehu’ blended with traditional music instruments; the first re-make from his popular album Ante Godana.
‘Sike Eshegnshalehu’s video shows talented and amazing traditional instrument players at their best.
Michael told Capital that the album costs him around 100,000 birr to produce.
According to Selam festival’s website, Michael Belayneh was born and raised in Addis Ababa. Music, for Michael, has always been a passion to live for. While attending formal education at AAU, he also started taking piano lessons at Yared Music School with a private tutor, on a part time basis. He later joined Medina Band as a part time English singer. In those years, he played at various night clubs in town with Medina and Express bands.
In 2003, Michael started producing his own solo album project with Elias Melka. While producing this album, he released his first single, the remake of Getachew Kassa’s song called Sayish Esasalehu. By 2005, his debut album called ANTE GODANA was released.This album brought Michael closer to a larger audience. The album was a huge success as it caught the hearts of music lovers in a slow but subtle way. The tracks in ANTE GODANA are deeply driven by positivity and relaxing vibes. Such songs include Sike Eshegnshalehu, Etebikishalehu, and Yefikir Mirchaye.
Tizita, a slow rock single, followed in 2010. After a long absence, Michael produced and delivered the very outstanding album, NAFKOT ENA FIKIR [meaning NOSTALGIA & LOVE in Amharic] in 2012.
Saint George’s Selam Zeray becomes Lucy’s new boss
Saint George and Ethiopian U-17 National team head coach Selam Zeray has been appointed the new boss of the Ethiopian Women’s (Lucy) team. They are getting ready for the 13th African Women’s Cup final qualification and the East African Women’s Championship in Ghana and Rwanda respectively.
The 13th edition Cup final takes place between 26 February and 10 April 2018 in Ghana-Accra. The new boss is likely to call her players to camp mid-February. Ghana automatically qualified as host of the eight nation Cup final while the remaining seven places will be decided during the qualifying rounds.
Saint George is sixth out of ten teams. They have only 4 points from six matches and her tenure as U-17 head coach was underwhelming. Selam’s appointment is being questioned by fellow coaches who believe the appointment did not follow proper procedures.
Lack of consistency is what is Ethiopian Football Federation is famous for. They have forgotten they denied Ethiopia Neged Bank’s Women’s team Coach Berhanu Gizaw the chance to boss Lucy unless the team parted ways with the club duty. However, now Selam Zeray has appeared and is jointly handling the club as well the national team duties.
Selam announced former Ledeta Women’s team Coach Bezuayehu Wada would be her deputy while Ethiopia Bunna Goal Keeping trainer will be Wubeshet Desalegn. Both were with her during her time at the U-17 competition. The coaches will travel throughout the country to watch matches and select players.
