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An additional 200 jobs and $30 million will be injected into the local Townsville economy during the next stage of construction of the $225 million Palaszczuk Government-funded Haughton Pipeline.

Minister for Communities, Disability Services and Seniors and Member for Mundingburra Coralee O’Rourke, Member for Townsville Scott Stewart and Member for Thuringowa Aaron Harper, were on site today to announce that BMD had been awarded the latest two contracts for the installation of the final 18 kilometres of pipeline.

“BMD has a long-standing history in Townsville and will construct the final leg of the 36.5km pipeline while using local businesses and creating local jobs,” Mrs O’Rourke said.

“I am delighted to be on site today with Mayor Jenny Hill inspecting construction works on the pipeline and to see the scale of the project.

“This next stage of the project means hundreds of jobs – reflecting a key focus of the Palaszczuk Government – investing in regional jobs and supporting regional Queensland businesses.”

Mr Stewart said with the community still recovering from an unprecedented flooding event, that the jobs and economic investment that flow from the next two stages of the pipeline provided a much-needed boost for the economy.

“Being on site it is great to see this vital piece of infrastructure coming together – one that will secure a reliable water supply for the region for decades to come,” Mr Stewart said.

“The Palaszczuk Government recognises that investing in water infrastructure is vital to the regions and this funding has been warmly welcomed by the community.”

Mr Harper said that there were more than 400 workers now on the project and the spin-off of these jobs and the on-going employment would be felt right across the region.

“I know the Townsville City Council has worked closely with the Palaszczuk Government on this project and as a result there will not only be a secure water supply but money directly and indirectly injected into the pockets of local businesses and families,” Mr Harper said.

Townsville Mayor, Cr Jenny Hill said the contract would ensure the project remained on schedule for completion in March 2020.

“Townsville’s long-term water security is well on the way to being delivered,” Cr Hill said.

“The water pipeline is the most critical infrastructure project in the city in decades.

“Hundreds of jobs and tens of millions of dollars are being spent here in our local economy in the process.

“This package of works alone will deliver 200 direct and indirect jobs and because of the major focus on local suppliers, $30 million will be spent with 90 local businesses right here in Townsville.

“That is a huge economic injection into the city.”

Water and Waste Committee Chair Cr Russ Cook said the package of works included the installation of 18km of pipeline, and construction of one river crossing at the Haughton River and creek crossing at Major’s Creek South.

“The work will be delivered in sequence with civil works and land acquisitions along the pipeline easement and is expected to begin within weeks,” Cr Cook said.

Scott Power, Group Executive Director – Operations, BMD Group said BMD was looking forward to successfully delivering another key project for the Townsville region.

“BMD has been delivering key infrastructure in North Queensland for 25 years and as a local company we are proud to be contributing to an important project such as the Haughton Pipeline Duplication,” Mr Power said.

“As a company dedicated to collaborative contracting and local input, we are focusing on the creation of local jobs during construction and are looking at spending in excess of $30 million with local businesses.”