Negotiations on the pricing of the houses earmarked for the Waila Housing development in Nausori is still underway.

Minister for local government Praveen Bala Kumar says the design bill and master agreement with the Asian company ‘Top Symphony’ was signed in 2012 and is valid for 7 years.

“If we fail in this deal, that does not mean the development will stop, but I can assure this House because that there some positive signs, but at the same time, we all must understand that development took place to provide housing for the very poor people.”

Kumar was responding to a question posed by Opposition MP Josefa Dulakiverata who asked the minister to explain the timeframe in place between the Housing Authority and the contractor to develop Waila City.

Supplementary questions were also posed by the Opposition, MP Salote Radrodro asked the Minister to explain why there wasn’t a written response to her earlier question on how much the Waila development was costing the government and if a loan was taken, where from and what were the loan conditions.

Bala in response highlighted that the ruling by the Speaker of the House Dr. Jiko Luveni was that the Minister may respond in writing and that there was no timeframe in which he needed to reply.

Opposition MP Bill Gavoka asked if the Minister could provide a clear timeline for the development to which Kumar reiterated that negotiations were on-going.