Houses for retired officers

MANADO, North Sulawesi: A great number of retired servicemen or their widows do not have houses of their own, a spokesman of the local chapter of the Indonesian Retired Armed Forces Servicemen said.

W.E.R. Mokoagow said on Friday that only 600 of the chapter's 11,000 members have been able to buy houses through a housing loan program provided by the Ministry of Security and Defense.

He was quoted by Antara as saying that 490 houses are currently being constructed in the regencies of Manado and Minahasa for the retired servicemen.

Mokoagow, who is also chairman of the local chapter of the Armed Forces Central Cooperative, said the cooperative has built 55 houses in the Bitung mayoralty. (imn)