A construction boom

In the last couple of years, a construction boom occured in Papua New Guinea. As more and more expatriates flowed into the country, a housing and office shortage caused rental prices to go sky high thereby neccesitating more residential and commercial development. And so, you would see construction sites all over Port Moresby these days. It seems like everyone is rushing to have something built whereas only 3 years ago, there was barely any development. Heck, vehicular traffic during rush hour was non-existent 3 years ago.

So today, I got lucky. I got the opportunity to go up and down a scissors platform which went up as high as 48 feet. I have always been fascinated with construction since all the large tools look like toys to me. Going up and down was a cheap thrill that excited me and made my day! The view from up high is cool! Well, we don't get a lot of opportunities to see views in Port Moresby since most buildings are low. I just want to share the view that I had from being that high on a shaky platform. Mind you, if it were windy, it can get scary! So here are some shots.



the yellow-orange contraption on the building's side is a scissors platform



the scissors platform all folded up and waiting for me to play around with

you climb up into it

a joystick! how cool! up, up, down, down, left-right, left-right, b-a, start!

the view from the top, i can see the light tower of the stadium

that's brian bell right across and RH further down

that's islands petroleum - did you notice how most of the buildings here look like large tin sheds?

And here are some other shots of various buildings around Port Moresby that are being constructed. There's a lot more around the city. These shots were just taken from Waigani Avenue.

holiday inn's new wing being constructed

a new office building

the controversial casino project

the hotel attached to the casino

I hope you enjoyed the shots. Once more of these buildings finish, I hope for the rental rates here to start going down. Currently, housing can go as high as K7,000 per week. That's US$2,660. What you get for that is a small house, usually a 3-bed room affair with possibly a pool and maybe a view. The furniture, white & brown goods aren't even top-of-the-line. Isn't that ridiculous?