Vila’s “Bright lights " Bring Housing Problem

The New Hebrides Condominium Government hopes eventually to introduce a low-cost rehousing scheme for Islanders who have been attracted to Vila by the town’s “bright lights”. The Government hopes that the scheme will be similar to schemes already in operation in Fiji and New Caledonia.

This is stated in a recent newsletter of the British Residency in Vila.

The Newsletter says: “Recent experience has suggested that in creasing numbers of New Hebrideans are seeking employment in Vila and make up some 62 per cent, of the urban and peri-urban population and are creating a problem in the field of housing.

“It seems probable that many of these immigrants are housed too far from their place of work, or experience other difficulties. In addition, property owners are obliged to provide housing for numbers of people whose presence is an embarrassment to them and to suffer the erection of unsightly dwellings on valuable property.

“The Residencies [British and French ] and the Chamber of Com merce are collaborating in a study to determine the requirements of New Hebrideans and other Pacific Islanders living permanently or temporarily in the Vila area with a view to determining how their difficulties may be eliminated.”