NT Government awards $24m contract to Northern Rise Village Service to provide services at Howard Springs quarantine facility
THE NT government will pay a private company linked to the major multinational conglomerate that runs the Mindil Beach Casino Resort up to $24m to provide services at Darwin’s Howard Springs quarantine facility.
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THE Northern Territory government will pay a private company linked to the major multinational conglomerate that runs the Mindil Beach Casino Resort up to $24m to provide services at Darwin’s Howard Springs quarantine facility.
Government records show Territory Families awarded a $24m schedule of rates contract to Northern Rise Village Services Pty Ltd on August 24.
Northern Rise Village Services Pty Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Delaware North, provides “accommodation, catering, transport and facility management services to the resources, construction, tourism and government sectors”.
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A spokeswoman for Territory Families confirmed the company had been contracted for “facility management services” at the Howard Springs mandatory quarantine facility and was providing staff to clean the place, deliver groceries guests had ordered online, provide meals and also carry out general facilities maintenance.
“This contract is an ongoing arrangement with a 30-day notice period should services no longer be required,” she said.
“This aligns with the Northern Territory government direction, as ongoing COVID-19 quarantine centre requirements depend upon direction of the Chief Health Officer and requirements stipulated by the Territory and commonwealth governments.”
Territory Families did not say which part of the budget the funds would be sourced from apart from the spokeswoman saying the department was “operating within relevant funding approvals of government”.
Delaware North was contacted for comment.
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It comes after the NT News recently revealed millions of taxpayer dollars are on the line as hot spot travellers serving quarantine stints in the Territory pay much less than what it costs to house them.
In June, the NT government confirmed it had cost $2.9m to dust off Howard Springs and get it operational at the start of the pandemic.
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