Skills building on Badu Island
The finishing touches being put on the new office space are only part of the fantastic outcomes from the Torres Strait Regional Authority (TSRA) refurbishment project drawing to a close on Badu Island.
Community Owned Enterprise (COE)’s Account and Finance Coach Micah Nkiwane recently joined employers Paul and Melita Ware of Paul Ware Constructions to celebrate the certification of ten Community Development Programme (CDP) participants working on the project.
“The training has been very good, a partnership between Mura Badulgal PBC, TSRA and COE achieving a great outcome for the community,” Paul said at the ceremony. The strengthening relationship between Paul’s company and COE allowed us to source ten trainees from local CDP provider Meriba Ged Ngalpun Mab to assist with the program, benefiting all involved. The million-dollar refurbishment required extensive construction, with the many hands provided by our trainees; Angelo Nona, Bill Joseph, Didymus Morseu, Eddie Nona, Ibegan Mene, Lewis Bani, Peter Gagai, Ray Baira, Tom Baira and Yathimo Kebisu making light work of the renovation tasks as they trained to achieve their Certificate I in construction.
Yathimo Kebisu receives his Certificate I in construction from Micah Nkiwane.
While the trainees were buoyed by working on a project benefiting their local community, the program also developed specific construction and more general workplace skills, equipping participants for future roles both on Badu island and further afield and providing a window of opportunity for participants wishing to continue in the construction industry.
As a brilliant example of this, two participants stood out from the group and have been retained by Paul Ware Constructions for a further building project on the Badu Island Wharf.
“The model works,” Paul said at the graduation ceremony “not only does it service the local community but also upskills our people and helps them to grow, we hope the government continues to support COE to provide this model to more trainees.”
The graduation celebration featured delicious local lobster on the BBQ, one of the perks of graduating on a tropical island.
This training is proudly funded by the Queensland Government through its Skilling Queenslanders for Work initiative. You can read our earlier story about the launch of the project here.