More Northern Projects Approved for NDA Funding
Thursday, September 30, 2004 at 14:23
Five projects in the North have been awarded a combined 523-thousand dollars in funding by the Northern Development Board.
The approved projects include funding support for the establishment of a Forestry Career Centre in La Ronge operated by the Saskatchewan Indian Institute of Technology, First Nations child care training in La Ronge and Pinehouse, practical nursing certificate training in La Ronge and computer training for northern administrators that will be offered at various locations in the North through a mobile computer lab.
New North will administer the computer training while Northlands College will be offering the child care and practical nursing training.
This was the second round of applications approved since the 20-million-dollar Northern Development Agreement was established in October 2002.
Spokesman Dean Desjarlais says six more applications were denied because they didn’t fit the criteria, while another six were deferred to a later date.
Meantime, Desjarlais says the board is reviewing a funding request from commercial fishers to help build the proposed fish processing plant in Prince Albert.
Desjarlais admits it might not fit the criteria for the funding program, but he’s hopeful they can get around that.
To date, the federal and provincial governments have announced over 3.1 million dollars in funding for 13 projects through the Northern Development Agreement.
The five-year agreement was created to help northern communities create jobs and attract outside investment.