Suva Slum Conditions
p. 68 · Read in the full issue
Again Attacked
SUVA, March 5.
THE wretched tenement houses of Suva with their overcrowding and insani tary conditions, constitute a grave health and social problem, states the annual report .of the Commissioner of Labour, Fiji.
“In urban centres building activity does not keep pace with the rising population.
“Four years ago the Post-War Plan ning and Development Committee re commended the expenditure of £250,000 over a five year period on industrial housing—little enough in relation to the then need—but nothing has come of this proposal and the need grows larger and more urgent each year.
“The continuing high cost of materials and labour deter private investors from risking capital on housing schemes which mav ultimately produce an inadequate return.
“No serious contribution to the solution of this housing problem can be expected until money can be made available at a low interest rate or schemes large enough to enable other substantial economies to be made —that is. by stan dardisation and prefabrication.”