Funds flow to locals in $37 million Jasper repair bill

CYCLONE JASPER REBUILD

Bryan Littlely

Journalist

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A large tree toppled at Dougies Backpackers Resort. Picture: Dougies Backpackers Resort

The Cyclone Jasper repair bill for Douglas Shire has hit $37 million, almost doubling since March when Council approved to delegate authority to the CEO to award all cyclone repair contracts valued at more than $200,000 in a bid to boost efficiency and capitalise on the dry season.

And the big spend has meant a flood of funds for local contractors and suppliers, data showing one third of the Queensland Reconstruction Authority (QRA) funds - $12,172,362 - has gone to Douglas Shire operations doing critical clean up and reconstruction works.

Retrospectively approving the $37,011,000 spent to August 31 on reconstruction and recovery works at the Tuesday, September 24, meeting of council, councillors praised the rapid flow of critical funding from the QRA.

“Thank God for the QRA,’’ Mayor Lisa Scomazzon said.

Councillor Abigail Noli noted that not only had a third of the funds spent to date gone to Douglas Shire businesses, but three quarters of the funds had been spent in the region. 

“What’s interesting to note is exactly one third of the suppliers are Douglas businesses and if you add neighbouring councils like Cairns and Mareeba, exactly three quarters of the suppliers are from the region so that’s a fantastic result for Douglas and local suppliers and businesses,’’ Cr Noli said.

Councillor Damian Meadows, who moved the successful motion to approve the expenses, said the region was “well and truly into our recovery phase’’.

“The amount of money that has been spent and is funded through QRA is phenomenal and it puts us in a really good position. Thank God for them,’’ he added.

Councillor Michael Rees applauded the depth of the report and the work of Douglas Shire’s operations team in coordinating projects and expenditure, comments supported by the Mayor.

“It is a great report and it's great to see what happens every month and it is also great to see that our local contractors are getting work out of this… that is really good,’’ Mayor Scomazzon said.

The final economic impact of the December 13, 2023, Cyclone Jasper Disaster Event is yet to be determined and the spending incurred to date is being presented to Council for retrospective approval on a monthly basis in accordance with Council’s Procurement Policy and s235c of the Local Government Regulation 2012, as the emergency spend is outside the approved budget.

Council officers are working on funding applications under Queensland’s Disaster Relief Funding Arrangements (DRFA) administered by the QRA which has provided Douglas Shire Council with a funding advance to ensure cash flow is maintained throughout the disaster recovery process.

The impact of Cyclone Jasper, which hit the Douglas Shire Council region on December 13, 2023, followed by a significant rain event was devastating and resulted in a large amount of damage to the Douglas Shire assets and resultant expenditure for repairs.

Council has been working closely with the State Government, through the QRA on the large program of recovery and resilience works to its Essential Public Assets.

Council is now working with funding from the Reconstruction of Essential Public Assets (REPA) program for delivery of major works and put in place the $200,000 trigger for delegated authority to the CEO, currently Acting CEO Paul Hoye, to efficiently and quickly execute contracts to minimise delays.

“The main objective of this strategy is to prioritise repairs and streamline the process of contract award to gain efficiencies,’’ a report to council in March stated.

“Under Council’s current procurement process, outlined in the Procurement Policy, all contracts above $200,000 must be approved at an Ordinary Council Meeting. This step can add up to six weeks to the contract awarding process.

“Recognising the scarcity of regional resources and the need to utilise dry season conditions to undertake significant construction activity, allowing the CEO to award contracts with retrospective approval by Council through an Ordinary Council Meeting will ensure Council can promptly engage necessary resources,’’ it concluded.

The report outlined that it was intended that the procurement principles of Council remained intact, emphasising local participation and maximising local content. All other council contracts not related to Cyclone Jasper damage and valued at more than $200,000 must follow the current Procurement Policy procedure for awarding contracts.

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