Santos GLNG: Construction Works Progress on Roma Community Hub

With the concrete slabs poured and steel works in place, construction of a new building to centralise essential social services for the Maranoa – the Roma Community Hub, is well underway.

Yesterday, Council welcomed representatives of the project’s co-sponsors, including Minister for Local Government David Crisafulli MP to take a look at the construction progress of the new building.

The Roma Community Hub building is located behind Council’s Roma Customer Service Centre and will replace the current Roma Neighbourhood Centre (RNC). As this new building will be considerably larger than the RNC building, it will provide a central location for a number of essential social services to support the community.

Maranoa Mayor Robert Loughnan said once construction is complete, the Roma Community Hub will be a high quality facility that in essence will become a ‘one-stop-shop’ for residents accessing the centre’s services.

“This facility will provide Council with a better means to support community organisations by offering greater coordination between service providers, ensuring clients are able to access the best service possible, within available resources,” Loughnan said.

“As this is a significant project for the Maranoa, it is great to see local business Duff Family Trust awarded the tender for the building’s construction works.”

The resource industry has played a significant part in bringing the $2.56 million project to fruition. The Australian Pacific LNG Project and Santos GLNG have each provided $500,000, as well as the State Department of Local Government matching their individual contribution of $500,000. Council has provided the remainder $1.06 million.

Origin Regional Community Relations Manager Scott Bird said the project funding is further evidence of the company’s commitment to deliver lasting benefit to the regions where they operate.

“The Australia Pacific LNG Project’s operations will provide economic benefits to this region for decades and the Community Hub project will be an important asset as Roma continues to grow and prosper,” Bird said.

Santos GLNG Community and Support Services Team Leader Jamie Miller said the business was pleased to contribute $500,000 to the Roma Community Hub.

“We’ve been working in the region for decades and we’ll be around for many years to come,” Miller said.

“It’s important to us that we play our part in making sure Roma remains a vibrant community that is a great place to live as well as building a world-class natural gas project.”

The Roma Community Hub is expected to be completed mid June 2014, weather permitting.

Press Release, March 13, 2014; Image: Santos