The newly renovated St Pauls Community Hall was reopened and blessed on 20 August 2018. Upgrades to Kubin and St Pauls Community Halls are now complete.

Their completion provides much needed facilities for meeting places for gatherings and employment outcomes for locals.

The Torres Strait Regional Authority (TSRA) provided over $1.2 million from its Economic Development Programme to this project that created jobs through the completion and repairs of halls in St Pauls and Kubin.

Six CDP job seekers from Mua gained employment and 10 CDP job seekers completed a Certificate II in Construction Pathways.

The TSRA Chairperson, Mr Napau Pedro Stephen AM, said the project was a collaborative effort between the TSRA, Torres Strait Island Regional Council (TSIRC), and CDP provider My Pathway.

“This is a fantastic outcome for everybody involved, with two halls ready to be used by the community and jobs and training provided for locals,” Mr Stephen said.

“The halls are important pieces of community infrastructure that provide a meeting place for gatherings, both for Ailan Kastom and other business, but were essentially unusable due to incomplete construction or safety concerns.

“Now finished they can be utilised by the community.”

The halls upgrade was identified by TSIRC as a top 15 Councillor Priority project with local Indigenous contractor Paul Ware Construction awarded the building contract, and My Pathway facilitating training and employment outcomes.