The 1,553 public rental flats that are offered by the Public Rental Board are not enough to meet the current demand.
PRB Board Director Umarji Musa who was speaking at the official opening of 36 new PRB flats in Kalabu.
Musa says the government has fully funded the new Kalabu flats, 48 new flats in Savusavu, 36 flats under construction in Simla, Lautoka at a cost of $10M which is a grant.
The ground breaking ceremony of 36 flats in Simla Lautoka took place in June this year while 48 rental flats were officially opened in Savusavu earlier.
Musa says a subsidy grant of $1M per annum is given to PRB by the government to assist economically disadvantaged Fijians with affordable rental flats.
He says in a bid to accelerate the development of rental flats , the common board of PRB and Housing Authority has allocated space in the upcoming Housing Authority development in Davuilevu and Tavakubu to accommodate construction of PRB flats.
Musa says the space is expected to yield approximately 300 public rental flats and this is to be constructed under the government’s Public Private Partnership model with the FNPF and business community as announced by the Minister for Economy in the last budget address.
He says other major projects will begin soon.
Musa says all these projects and initiatives ensures that more Fijians will have access to basic housing needs and go a long way to reduce the wait list of applications.
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