Mayor Vonda Malone Chairperson of Torres Shire Council and the Chair of the Torres Cape Indigenous Alliance Inc. (TCICA) spoke to Greg Reid on Black Star radio and called on the Federal government to honor their commitments to the Cape York and Torres Strait

The TCICA has stepped in to deliver the Remote Area Board (RAB) program for our region. An initiative of the Queensland Government, the program recognises the limited ratepayer base of rural and remote communities and helps support organisations like the TCICA to progress strategic development issues.

As one of only 5 RABs around the State, the program will fund the TCICA to identify economic and employment opportunities and inform the allocation of funding into infrastructure and services across the region. We are expecting to announce our first RAB project in the coming weeks.

The Minister for State Development, Manufacturing, Infrastructure and Planning, the Honourable Cameron Dick MP, recently announced the release of another $1.5 million over two years for the five RABs, providing certainty of funding and underpinning future economic planning and projects

* Coalition plans for Leichhardt, as reported in The Cairns Post on Friday 17 May 2019:

$190 million for the Peninsula Development Road

$105 million to direct fund Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander councils to deliver housing

$10 million for the Lakeland Irrigation Area dam project

$5 million for seawalls in the Torres Strait

Other funding is expected to flow to the region from the Coalition’s $220 million Stronger Regional Digital Connectivity Package and $40 million fund to grow Indigenous tourism.