Refugees' homes left unfinished

KENDARI, Southeast Sulawesi: Construction of houses for 1,000 refugees has been delayed due to a lack of available land and supply of construction materials.

Head of the regional office of the Ministry of Public Works, Soekarjoso, said on Thursday that construction of the 30-square- meter homes would be completed in two months' time.

Antara reported that so far only about 250 homes have been completed at a cost of about Rp 2.5 million (US$347) per house.

About 11,000 families fled the provincial capital of Ambon recently following outbreaks of religious and ethnic unrest. (anr)