Fijian Workers

New Settlement for Suva’s Fijian Workers

AT Samabula, three miles from central Suva, the first of several housing settlements for Fipian fami lies in the Suva area is being con

structed. An entrance road has been formed and the frames of 16 Fijian type houses are already up.

It is intended to establish between 80 and 100 Fijian families on this Crown land settlement. Water and sewerage systems are now being in stalled, communal lavatory blocks are being built and communal shower rooms and laundries have been planned. Each house will be 18 ft. by 12 ft. and have a separate kitchen.

It is probable that this scheme has been speeded-up by the January hurricane, but the housing shortage, especially in the case of lower-paid Fijian workers, was more than acute before the storm. Since the hurri cane more than 300 Fijians have been living at the former Army camp at Samabula and these will be among those to be accommodated at the new settlement.

The establishment of even 100 families at Samabula is only a be ginning, but it is encouraging as the first tangible sign that a move is at last being made against the evils of slum conditions and exploitation by slum-landlords.

The Right Rev. S. G. Caulton, M.A., Bishop of Melanesia, with headquarters in the Solomon Islands, arrived in Auckland, in March.