Elders village officially open

Ngarluma Aboriginal Corporation’s elders’ village in Roebourne is officially completed.

Karratha-based building company Eaton Building began construction of the village which features nine units, a medicinal garden, fireplace, studio, courtyard, yarning circle and cinema nearly a year ago.

Eaton Building managing director Paul Eaton said he was proud of the final product.

“Obviously being an Aboriginal elders village there were a lot of extra things to take into consideration but working alongside the (NAC) board everything has been pretty smooth, ” he said. “There’s some cultural things there I could certainly use in developing better housing for indigenous people in the future.

“I think this project will be a statement to what the corporation can achieve.” Mr Eaton said he was looking forward to entering the project into builders’ awards.

Elders village architect and project manager Bruno Alahakone said the village had been completed within budget and in a reasonable timeframe.

“It incorporates everything the Ngarluma board wanted in the project and has achieved that within budget so that is quite a milestone, ” he said.

“It’s a project that is interesting because it’s fully funded by the Ngarluma Aboriginal Corporation from their land compensation.

“Working with the board was also interesting because every aspect of the project was scrutinised by them, they took ownership of all the decisions which went through.”

The opening ceremony featured traditional dancing from Ngarluma children, thank you messages from the elders and a meal.