Solomons students cry foul over housing
University of the South Pacific students from the Solomon Islands claim they are being exploited by landlords who are charging exorbitant rents for poor quality accommodation. These students are being charged as much as $300 per month each for a single room in which as many as 12 people are squeezed into. One student, who has been in Fiji since 2011, said people in the Solomon Islands looked forward to studying in Fiji – until they get here.
“Right from high school, kids in my country begin dreaming about living and studying in Fiji,” he said, preferring to remain anonymous.
“Last year, a students’ mother came to visit him and started crying when she saw the conditions he was living in,” the student said.
Students from other Pacific Island countries are also affected. But Solomon nationals, being the largest student group behind Fijians, are affected the most.
Last year, according to the Solomon Islands Students Association (SISA), there were 951 students at the university. They estimate the numbers have crossed the 1000 mark in 2018.
They say it has been a long-standing problem. Many students were not forthcoming for fear of being evicted.
The Fiji Sun visited two of the houses in Suva yesterday. In one Nasese house, 12 students were sharing twin single room in a house, sleeping in bunk beds. Students claim as many as 70 people live in the house, sharing two toilets and bathrooms between them – which were in a filthy condition when the Fiji Sun visited. Many have to sleep outside because of the lack of space and unbearable heat.
A worker speaking on behalf of the landlord confirmed they had received minor complaints of wear and tear at the house and were working to repair them.
He said the house had a capacity to accommodate 40 people, charging them between $220 and $250 each per month.
“We do have a property in Nasese which is rented out to students who want to live, have a place to stay near USP,” he said. Another dilapidated wooden house in Flagstaff had shaky floors with holes in them, tall grass and a kitchen in a grossly unhygienic state.
Horrified by the conditions, the students have named the house “ghetto,” saying its state had not improved for years.
The students say there are many houses like the two Fiji Sun visited but refused to continue the tour for fear of reprisals by landlords.
Solomon students receive their allowances of FJ$1040 by the fifth of every month.
They complain, however, that landlords are usually very strict and aggressively demand rent on the first day of a new month. SISA President Lawrence Ina says race could be a factor in the way many of them were being treated.
“I think the landlords should treat us equally as anybody else here in Fiji and not as foreigners with a lot of money,” the student leader said. “As a country, Solomon Islands is not very different from Fiji.”
He said the students are forced to squeeze in together because they cannot afford to live alone.