Yugul Mangi Development Aboriginal Corporation

Yugul Mangi advises caution when driving on the Roper Highway dirt/bitumised sections, on account of recent rainfall in the area. At this time, travel for heavy vehicles (road trains, semi trailers) is not recommended until the condition of the road improves. For further information on road conditions visit:

https://roadreport.nt.gov.au/home

*IMPORTANT UPDATE: Based on accounts of travelers passing through the area, The Strangways Creek was sitting at approximately 0.1m at 10am 4.3.2020.  refer to Road Report NT for further updates. 

We advise those choosing to drive on the Roper Highway to:

1. Ensure your vehicle is in good/serviceable condition
2. Make sure you are prepared for tyre failure (have spares, adequate recovery equipment)
3. Drive to the conditions
4. Wear your seat belt
5. Plan ahead (let friends, family or colleagues know when you leave/plan to arrive at your destination)
6. Check Road Report NT for further information prior to travel.

Yugul Mangi Development offices as well as the Darlala Motel, will be closing over the Christmas and New Year periods. We appreciate everyone’s support in 2019 and are excited to see what 2020 brings!

See below for closures and support staff leave dates.

Darlala Motel/YMD Offices: Shut: 20th December 2019, Reopen: 13th January 2020 

Paul Francis, YMD Interim CEO: 20th December 2019- 14th January 2020 

Brock Schaefer-Walker, YMD Business Manager: 18th December 2019- 16th January 2020 

Zara Burnett, Darlala Motel Manager: 20th December 2019- 6th January 2020 

Please contact Paul Francis on 0436 640 016 if any issues over the Christmas closure period. 

A Community Meeting was held on the oval today, with Yugul Mangi Director and local Councillor Owen Turner talking to community about recent break-ins by some of the kids.

There have also been rumours of bikie gangs coming into the community, which have many people scared. It was made clear these are rumours and not true.

We’re currently working with the Police and Territory Government on how we can address the issues with youth in our community. We’re working on making strong leaders and good programs that address troubled youth,  boredom, and other issues.

 

We had an old Purple Cement Truck we used to deliver concrete, lovingly called the “Purple People Eater”. Unfortunately it broke down earlier this year and the cost of repairs was going to be quite a bit – and it would still be an old truck which would have some issues. So we bought a newer (2nd hand) concrete truck a few months ago.

It got put to good use last week batching concrete for the two new houses that are being built in community. We’re very proud of our concrete crew and the great work they do!

It was a day of meetings for us on Tuesday. With Court in town, leaders of Yugul Mangi met with the Magistrate to talk about options for sentencing and what we can do to help offenders, particularly youth. With funding for Youth Diversion from NT Government, we’re aiming to develop a structured program that will help reduce youth offending, by engaging with those youth who do – and helping them re-engage around the issues that are leading to offending.

In the afternoon, several of our leaders met with the NT Administrator, HH Vicki OHalloran, who had come to visit Ngukurr. We spoke about many of the programs we’re engaged in and the challenges we face in service delivery in a remote Aboriginal Community – particularly proper community engagement and the need for infrastructure.

It opened with a friendly Footy match on Friday, followed by a bunggul and disco that got the kids dancing. Good dancers were awarded with prize vouchers they could spend at the store.

Saturday was filled with stalls from all the organisations in town. The school ran a BBQ and sold cupcakes, Sunrise Health told kids the importance of washing hands and even had CPR dummies out for practice, while the Rangers, Roper Council, Stronger Communities, and Selena Uibo had stalls with information and competitions.

With the pool open for those who wanted to cool off, Footy was being played on the oval, and the competitive Basketball games got underway in the rec hall. The traditional spear throwing competition was held during a pause in the games. Saturday night saw more bunggul, and after some late technical glitches which delayed the start, bands playing from 8 pm until 3 am in the morning.

The night opened with the Collins Sisters, Richard Collins, and the Bad Tees. New Boys Band from Utopia put on a show, followed by the Lonely Boys, T Lynx, Juram, Tax Man, Black Cloud, and finally Yugul Voice to finish the night. The temporary outdoor stage – a first in a while – was well received and the dancing pit was going off all night. The audio was noticeably better than previous years (which had been held inside the Rec Hall) and fire pits placed around the outside greatly helped those in need of warmth.

With everyone recovering from late night music, Sunday started late but soon got underway with finals for Basketball and Football. The winning teams and runners up were awarded their prizes, with medals for each of the players.

And finally it was another night of music, opening with the church group, before turning into an all night jam session for the bands, running until early the next morning.

Special thanks goes to all those who helped organise and run the Festival this year and those who came out to visit. We look forward to seeing you return for 2020.

We’ve been working with the Territory Government, the Department of Infrastructure Logistics and Planning (DIPL), and Roper Council to provide increased opportunities for Indigenous employment in our remote community. Often external contractors come to community, do the work, and leave – with little to no employment for local community.

This time though, we’ve hired skilled and experienced Civil Operators who are working closely with local community to skill them up, train them, and show them how to do some of this work themselves. As a result, we have been re-sheeting part of our own road, as well as fixing up the entrance road into Urapunga after the wet.

We’re very proud of our team and DIPL have been very impressed with the work they’ve done. We see this as a model that can be used going forward creating long-term employment opportunities for local community and ultimately reduced cost to the Government as contractors won’t need to bring so many external workers in.

Yugul Mangi Development have been successful in winning the CDP tender for the Ngukurr and Urapunga communities. We’ve partnered with ITEC Group and IEN to help us deliver the program. We met with stakeholders currently engaged in CDP, including Roper Gulf Council, and CDP participants, to explain the changes and what that means for community.

The meetings went well and it was great to see so many people attend. We look forward to running CDP from July 1 and delivering local community based activities.

Bill Mackenzie from NT Iron Ore was invited out to talk to community about NTIO’s plans for mining in the region. Bill spoke about the plan and what the company wanted to do.

Some community members had concerns about trucks on the road and the environmental impacts which were discussed. There are also good potential opportunities for jobs and ongoing employment related to the mine

The mine is a few years away yet and discussions will be ongoing.

Elder Cherry Daniels was laid to rest today in a ceremony attended by many from the region.

Cherry was born and raised in Ngukurr. As a child, her elders would take her out bush with them to practice their traditional ways. This was back in the missionary days when people tried to stop community passing on culture. Even speaking traditional language was banned at the School back in her time.

This didn’t stop Cherry. For her, “our leaders were strong. They didn’t let white people stop us from having our ceremonies. It is our identity.”

She was one of the few Ngandi speakers. It was important to her to pass this knowledge on so that it wasn’t lost. That’s why she worked for many years with the language centre and school, helping her mob regain their knowledge and pride in language and culture.

Back under the old CDEP program, Cherry started the rangers which became the Yugul Mangi Rangers. She worked with that mob, teaching the kids our traditional ways. She’d go out bush and teach what she knew.

She was very strong with culture and knew how important it was to pass on knowledge. She helped write books and did a lot of good work for our community.

It will be important to her that we remember our ways and where we’re from. We need to know our language and culture, so we can protect country. She was also very strong on ‘both ways’ education so our mob can succeed in both worlds.

The Government knew how important this was – which is why they gave her an Order of Australia Medal. This was in recognition of her service to her ways and her people.

Cherry dedicated her life to the advancement of our community and she will be sorely missed.