House-on-stilts sales thrive in Manado

House-on-stilts sales thrive in Manado

MANADO, North Sulawesi: A furniture businessmen revealed on
Wednesday that sales of traditional Minahasa house-on-stilts
(rumah panggung) were thriving, with businessmen from four
countries becoming regular buyers.

"Our company can sell between 20 and 30 units of Minahasa
traditional wooden houses a month. The foreign buyers come from
Malaysia, Thailand, Spain and Germany," said Ferdinand Datu, the
director of furniture company CV Padatkarya Multijasa.

The company has so far been able to meet the demand, but
Ferdinand complained that as time went by, it was getting more
difficult for the company to obtain raw materials such as wood.

The price for the houses was quite expensive with each meter
square being priced at US$150 for foreign buyers, while local
customers paid Rp 650,000 (US$65) per meter square. -- Antara