Theundergrounding power rollout has recommenced this week with work starting atWagaman Primary School.
Followingthe devastation of Cyclone Marcus in 2018, the Territory Labor Governmentannounced it would recommence the program after it was scrapped by the CLPgovernment in 2012.
Nine DarwinSchools will be the first to receive undergrounding works including WagamanPrimary, Alawa Primary, Jingili Primary, Parap Primary, Larrakeyah Primary,Moil Primary, Nemarluk, St Johns College and Stuart Park Primary.
Insevere weather events, undergrounded power to schools will help to keep themconnected, enabling them to remain open and provide safe environments forchildren while recovery efforts take place.
Schoolswill also be offered the opportunity to participate in the program by providingartwork to decorate the substation at their school.
Threemillion dollars has been budgeted for the school rollout which is expected totake 2 years to complete.
Fortimeline of rollout please see attachment.
Quotesfrom Treasurer Nicole Manison:
TheTerritory Labor Government is delivering a safe, reliable power network forTerritorians. This is in stark contrast to the CLP who scrapped theundergrounding power program and hiked power prices by 30%.
Undergroundingpower supply to schools will see almost every Darwin suburb that has aboveground power receive a benefit from the program.
Therollout will support on-going local jobs, ensure more reliable power to oursuburbs and enable fast recovery efforts during severe weather occurrences.
Quotesfrom Member for Sanderson Kate Worden:
DuringCyclone Marcus Wagaman School staff and students were unable to use the schoolfor an extended period of time.
Itwas the last school back in operations due to no power and it caused issues forparents who needed to get back to some normality.
Havingcertainty of power in all weather conditions means Wagaman Primary will be ableto get back up and running quickly and students will have limited interruptionto their learning.
