Aluminium Houses
p. 105 · Read in the full issue
102 For Papua-New Guinea
From Our Own Correspondent
Pt. Moresby, Jan. 8.
WHEN the overseas ship Rembrandt drops anchor in Port Moresby harbour in February, the first pre fabricated aluminium homes ever to arrive in the Territory will be taken from its holds.
The cargo comprises 33 Hawkesley Aluminium houses made in Britain, and when these are erected and occupied it will settle the present discussion on whether aluminium houses can be made suitable for tropical areas. The manu facturers claim that the special insula tion built into the structures makes them ideal for a tropical country. The sceptics want somebody else to live in them before they take on a tenancy.
Another 69 of these homes leave Britain
for the Territory at the end of this month, in the Baluchistan; so that, when the testing time is over, 102 Papua and New Guinea families will be able to give an opinion on the desirability of aluminium houses.
These two-bedroom houses, with a sleep out, will cost from £3,600 to £4,000 (Aus.) each when erected, and fitted with elec trical equipment. This is roughly about the same as Australian hardwood homes now being built in the Territory.