Ifira Matnakara Housing Cooperative has signed a contract today with IBS, a construction company from Korea, to build houses for the members of the cooperative.

The Ifira Matnakara Housing Cooperative started in 2021 with a plan to lift the living standards of ni-Vanuatu through strong and affordable housing that it will construct.

It has been over four years that members of the cooperative have been waiting to see a house built under the Ifira Matnakara Housing Cooperative program.

This week, the Chairman of the cooperative, Barak Sope, said that signing the contract with the Korean company is a major achievement for the cooperative.

After the signing, he said it will take around six months of preparation before construction work begins.

“This company will build 3,000 houses, with Matnakara being the main area on South Efate — Mele (more than 1,000 houses), Stella Marie, Teouma (over 1,000 houses or more).”

The Chairman of IBS Group, the Korean construction company, said that his company is taking this development project seriously.

His translator, Edwin Riche Terry, added:

“IBS Group is now reviewing the details of the members of the Ifira Matnakara Cooperative before construction can start. The contract signed by IBS will not be taken lightly; they want a strong and successful outcome, and all contracts must be properly in place.”

The Chairman of the cooperative also said that many of these houses will be built in South Efate.

The houses IBS will build will be paid for gradually by the members, working together under a cooperative system.

Each member of the cooperative pays a membership fee of 10,000 vatu, and the cooperative has already collected over 30 million vatu in membership fees.

The Ifira Matnakara Housing Cooperative sees the signing of this contract as a major step toward realizing its plans.