Number: 2022/D14
Date: 30 September 2022
Relevant: Christmas Island residents
Topic: Christmas Island day care building
The Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts regrets to inform Christmas Island families that the building housing the day care needs to be closed for the coming week for emergency repairs, for the safety of children and staff.
Building works being undertaken at the Old Tech School have uncovered significant structural damage caused by termites to the day care area of the building.
As the safety of building occupants and the community is paramount, property manager JLL is arranging for the day care to be closed from close of business today, 30 September 2022, to allow emergency repairs to be undertaken.
It is anticipated the repairs will be completed for the day care to operate again from Monday, 10 October 2022.
We assure the day care community this decision is necessary. A number of alternative options were considered, but remediation cannot take place safely while the day care site is occupied and it would not be safe to delay the repair works.
JLL is working with local community representatives to explore whether additional school holiday programs may be available to provide alternate temporary care arrangements for the four-day period next week. If these opportunities become available, they will be promoted through normal community notice channels.
Thank you for your patience through this challenging situation, we will provide you with an update on the repairs and scheduled re-opening of the day care next week.
Beth Duncan, Acting Assistant Secretary, Indian Ocean Territories Branch