ENG-1950 — Page 73

In these villages the dwellings are built in rows of a dozen or so with the front of one row facing the back of another. The streets between are usually not more than six to eight feet wide, and the drainage is primitive. Latrines are erected apart from the dwellings, and are similar, though inferior, to those still found attached to some rural cottages in the United Kingdom. The houses are for the most part kept in reasonable repair and the structural design is never altered. Furnishings consist usually of trestle beds, perhaps a table, and a few small stools.

A typical village dwelling consists of one ground floor room, entrance being made through the front door-there is no back door- into a partially roofed-over space, one side of which is reserved for cooking, and the other side for storage of dried grass, the principal fuel. An inner door gives entrance to the single room, the rear portion of which is screened off with wooden partitions for use as a bedroom. Over this rear portion, raised some 8 feet above floor level, is a wooden platform or gallery used for storage or for extra sleeping accommodation. The roofing consists of rafters and tiles

with no room-ceiling or chimney. There are few windows.

Village houses which have passed from father to son are rarely sublet by the owner, who pays generally about 50 cents a year Crown rent. These houses are constructed of locally made blue brick or roughly cut granite blocks, a tiled roof and, in recent years, cement floors. The less permanent houses in the poorer villages are built of sundried mud-brick faced with plaster; these houses deteriorate after a few years, the owner again rebuilding in similar style.

Village populations vary considerably; a small single-family village may consist of only about 30 people, while in the larger villages the population may be 2,000 or more.

New Buildings and Repairs

During 1950, 575 plans involving the construction of 1,182 buildings were submitted to the Director of Public Works for approval. These included 25 factories, 3 hotels, 4 restaurants, 13 schools, 5 churches,. 3 amusement parks, 2 hospitals and 88 godowns and stores, the rest being private houses. There were also 2,824 plans covering rehabilitations, alterations and additions, mostly to domestic property, 196 site developments and a large number of plans covering minor constructions such as garages and temporary buildings.

A total of 939 new buildings and 253 miscellaneous non-domestic buildings was completed during the year.

Town Planning

The Report of Sir Patrick Abercrombie published in September 1949 was considered in detail by a departmental committee under the chairmanship of the Acting Director of Public Works.

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