The Good Earth —But a Little Rugged

Because of the nature of the land, Niue Island, east of Tonga, has special building problems—but it manages to overcome them. Niue is sometimes referred to as “The Rock”, for 'virtually that is all it is—coral rock with vegetation growing in pockets of soil. Niue was at one time a reef which has since raised. There is no surface water, so tanks are vital to the population of 4,700, who live in 12 villages around the coast line.

When Niue recently decided to build a new school, Halamahaga, it wasn’t just a matter of finding a large enough space and starting. A rugged coral hill had to be levelled. And when the building had been eredted (above) a thin covering of soil had to be put on the coral to make a grass playground.

Now, another rugged.\ hill overlooking this is being laborously levelled to make room for the secondary school —and the coral that is being re moved is bp.ing crushed for use as a building material. Lower photo (with the above building seen in the distance) clearly shows the nature of much of Niue's “land”.