No doubt the media – and the Feds- will again place the Strategic Indigenous Housing and Infrastructure Program (SIHIP) under the microscope once the silly season is well and truly over . Little Darwin can reveal there has been frantic activity on many fronts . As a result, several public servants have gone on stress leave, others in the private sector are departing the Territory to escape the madness and a person who held a high position in the Henderson Government not very long ago is involved in one outfit seeking a piece of the action. An esteemed gent fond of motorcycles and angels is also adding colour to manoeuvres. There is even talk of possible legal action over a potential deal involving millions of dollars. The lifestyle and public exposure of another well known person has undergone a change as a result of SIHIP , we are told.
The latest Territory minister with responsibility for SIHIP, beaming Dr Chris Burns, aka the Pepsodent Kid , made a statement before the end of the Noughties in which he admitted that not one house had yet been built, but other work had been carried out and that in 2010 there would be frantic activity on the home front. In between the usual rehash of crocodiles, UFOs and a G-string eating canine ,the NT News of January 2 carried a report about the difficult past year for the House of Henderson, one of its many problems being the fact that not one new dwelling had yet been built under SIHIP.
Take a peak at the $672 million SIHIP website and it becomes abundantly obvious that there is a lot of moolah to be made. The program is delivered through three alliance major contracts to deliver packages of work ranging from $30million to $50million. The alliances are-
The latest Territory minister with responsibility for SIHIP, beaming Dr Chris Burns, aka the Pepsodent Kid , made a statement before the end of the Noughties in which he admitted that not one house had yet been built, but other work had been carried out and that in 2010 there would be frantic activity on the home front. In between the usual rehash of crocodiles, UFOs and a G-string eating canine ,the NT News of January 2 carried a report about the difficult past year for the House of Henderson, one of its many problems being the fact that not one new dwelling had yet been built under SIHIP.
Take a peak at the $672 million SIHIP website and it becomes abundantly obvious that there is a lot of moolah to be made. The program is delivered through three alliance major contracts to deliver packages of work ranging from $30million to $50million. The alliances are-
*Earth Connect Alliance - Canstruct Pty Ltd , WorleyParsons Services Pty Ltd, Force 10 International Pty Ltd ,Greene & Associates Pty Ltd ,Ostwald Bros. Pty Ltd. *New Future Alliance- Leighton Pty Ltd, Broad Construction Services Pty Ltd, Opus Pty Ltd, Ngarda Civil & Mining Pty Ltd. *Territory Alliance- Sitzler Pty Ltd , Laing O’Rourke Australia Construction Pty Ltd, McMahon Services Australia Pty Ltd , with a sub alliance participant Compass Group (Australia) Pty Ltd.
Potential Tennant Creek contractors expressed anger about the way contracts for there were let, the successful tenderers unable to be revealed . They mentioned 1000 page tender documents,last minute alterations and endless bureaucratic requirements . It seems little goes right with SIHIP. Little Darwin decided to closely study SIHIP via Google. One listing announced it was damaged and not working properly. Sounds familiar. Soon after, the Little Darwin computer went haywire , resulting in uncouth expressions hitting the cooling system.
