Housing Problem
pp. 55-57 · Read in the full issue
Fiji Tackles Its Housing Problem
From a Suva Correspondent Fiji’s low-income housing scheme has finally got under way. A Suva firm at the end of January erected a prefabricated house in five days, at a cost of £500, for an Ellice Islander.
THE islander, Hollis Toise, a copra store worker who has lived in Suva for 33 years, thus became the first man to have a loan application approved, and his house built.
The Fiji Housing Authority— which operates the new scheme — paid £475 towards the cost of the house, and Toise put in five per cent., or £25.
Normally, the Authority expects the loan to be repaid at five per cent, over 20 years, but Toise says he will do better than that —£2 a week.
Toise earns less than £l2 a week at his job. If he earned more than £l2 he would not be eligible for a loan, under the rules.
It’s taken Fiji three years to get this far with its housing scheme.
Started in 1955 Mr. J. Falvey first moved in the Legislative Council in 1955 to get it started. But legislation that was subsequently passed for it was haphazardly put together, and the whole of 1956 passed with very little happening at all.
In 1957, when the Authority was finally set up, it quickly got bogged down in its considerations of what kind of policy had to be followed.
By the end of 1957, it learned that it was to get a free Govern ment grant of £200,000, as the first instalment on £500,000.
At the beginning of 1958, the Government sent Mr. K. R. Bain, a member of the Secretariat, on an eight weeks’ visit to the West Indies to see how low-income housing was financed and admini stered there.
The Housing Authority has now adopted Mr. Bain’s recommenda tions as an initial policy, and things finally look like flowing smoothly.
Hollis Toise is certainly happy, anyhow, and there are at least another 40 applicants whose loans have been approved.
These are workers in Suva and Lautoka —for grants are being made at present only to people needing houses in these centres.
Some Unhappy
This fact hasn’t pleased workers in other centres where housing problems are just as acute, but the Authority considers that Suva and Lautoka have the biggest problems.
Meanwhile, the Authority has got other plans for tackling things in a big way. It’s proposing to put a mass housing scheme on 43 acres of Crown land at Suva’s Laucala Bay.
Work is expected to start on April 1 on the first of 27 houses.
They will be built by contract.
The complete project will com prise about 250 houses, with com mercial sites, a community centre, school, clinic and the rest.
The land belonging to these houses will not be sold, merely sub-let —so as to prevent specula tion.
The blocks will be smaller than the standard size lots in Suva—
[?]E: Hollis Toise is handed the keys to [?]w house near Suva by the Secretary of [?]i Housing Authority, Mr. K. R. Bain. At [?]the managing director of the firm that [?]e house, Mr. A. H. Marlow. [?]W; Workers put up the walls of Toise's [?]ouse. The material for the house had [?]on the job the morning the photograph [?]ken, and the job was completed in five [?]Contrast the new structure with the [?]g shanty of sacking, wood and iron [?] the Toise family have lived for many —PRO Photos.
ging between 2,820 and 4,190 ire ft—compared with the idard Suva size of 8,712 square ft. he houses will be about 412 ire ft, with two bedrooms, living n, kitchen, toilet and shower, he Suva City Council has mtly relaxed its building re ements so as to co-operate with Authority in its efforts to bring ip houses to the people, tid —since it has been estimated ; Suva alone will require new ses for 10,000 people in the ; 10 years, the Council will no bt wish the Authority every ess.