The construction of the first national coffee museum is nearing completion despite lagging behind its schedule in Bonga town with a budget outlay of 32 million birr.

The initiative had originally come from the National Millennium Festival and Celebration Secretariat Office five years ago.

The then secretariat handed over the initiative first to the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Regional Administration and then the latter handed it over to the Bonga Zonal Administration to carry out the construction of the museum.

Kifle Gebremariyam, head of Bonga zone administration, said that though the budget was supposed to be financed by the federal government, as it is a national museum, it’s covered by both the SNNP and the Bonga zone.

If all goes according to plan, after a few months, the museum will open its door. The design of the museum depicts traditional rural housing of Ethiopian.

The zone administrator also said that the construction is lagging behind its original schedule due to the delay of budget supply and lack of construction material.

He told The Reporter that the decision to make it at Bonga is because Bonga is the birthplace of coffee.

The museum is also intended to show the tie Ethiopians have with coffee.

The internal part of the museum consists of both permanent and temporary exhibition areas. It will also have the Ethiopian cultural coffee ceremony.

Upon completion of the construction, the museum is going to be handed over to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, according to Kifle. So far the zonal administration has paid over 22 million birr to the contractor.

By Yonas Abiye
Source: EthiopianReporter

source: http://www.diretube.com / Home> Ethiopian News / November 19th, 2012