Keren Being Embellished

Like its counterpart cities such as Asmara, Massawa and other cities in Eritrea the beauty and sanitation of Keren city has been winning admiration of people.  Its architectural beauty has uniquely been a feast for the eyes. Since the independence period, this city has shown major transformation and particularly in the field of construction.

Keren and some villages in its environs, that is, collectively the Keren sub-zone, comprises around 90,000 inhabitants. Keren had a master plan designed in the late 1950s. This master plan, however, fails to meet the city’s ever-growing construction demand. As many areas around Keren have been urbanized, its total geographical area has been increasing.  These days, a new master plan for around 200 hectares of land that is expected to be part of the former Keren has been developed. In accordance with this development, spacious asphalted roads have been constructed in the main streets of Keren as well as in the outskirts of the city.

Parallel to the development of a new master plan, land for construction of housing complexes has been distributed to a number of nationals. The development of a new master plan which begun in the western part of the city would, in the near future, cover the rest part of the city for  plans have been charted out for the development of the like master plan.

These developments coupled with other advancements registered in other sectors has tremendously enabled Keren grow to the point that one who visited the city earlier in the independence period would find a completely transformed city.

The development of the master plan along with the sanitation programs and construction of sewages disposal, clearly depicts the progress the city is heading for. There are also plans to discard houses built outside the city’s master plan so as to build them anew. Once the narrow road networks in some areas of the city’s outskirts are expanded and the construction of bridges finalized, there would be no segmented areas within the city. 

The construction of regional administration building and others building complexes such as Eri-Tel branch office and housing complexes in different corners of the city, recreational parks along the main streets of the city as well as the construction of modern mosques and churches have added glamour to Keren’s former splendid architectural beauty.

Despite the endowments of river courses, the city has not yet met demands of water supply. Government’s long term plan to solve such a problem would definitely solve such a hindrance and push the development activity that would be carried out in the city progress in a speedy manner. Meanwhile, Mr. Tekie Keleta, administrator of the Sub-zone explained that the administration of the sub-zone has been implementing some alleviative programs. Since the administration of the Sub-zone has gained experiences in the construction of small catchment areas, water supply deficits would find a lasting solution in the near future.

Generally, the development undertakings of the city have shown encouraging outcomes. Even though the asphalted roads along the main streets of the city are in a good condition, the administration has planned to further enhance them.

With the development of vital infrastructures, many social service rendering institutions like hotels of good standards and cafes have been flourishing. 

Needless to mention the education and health facilities being provided to date, the city has indeed shown an all-round development achievement. The educational institutions that have been rendering services and other schools that are under construction in deed show the commendable achievement registered in the education sector.  “There are no death occurrences due to shortage of health care facilities,” Mr. keleta said.

Another factor which added more allure to the city’s beauty is trees plantation along the sides of the streets. These plantations have indeed added a beauty to the city’s landscape in the same manner to what the palm trees along the steers of Asmara are. The current beauty of Keren with the development undertakings to be carried out in the future would put the city in a higher realm of beauty and in a better position of social services.