The construction of a new mosque in southern Canberra is set to ramp up after a $1.4 million donation from the Kuwaiti government.
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Canberra Islamic Centre president Azra Khan said the construction of the centre in Monash, which has been under way for the past two years, is now expected to be finished in March 2017, after their funding submission was granted via the Kuwait embassy in Canberra.
"We've been really quite hamstrung with funds so we could have to collect donations and once we had enough to do a piece of work, we'd do that work. What this means is we've got the full assurance that the funds are accessible to complete the entire job," Mrs Khan said.
"We've finalised the foundation works and we've also started the framework and the steel structure will be going up in the next week or so. What this means is we can get on with the cladding and the roofing and everything else in very quick succession."
The centre will be named the Ahmad Al Sabah Masjid and Islamic Education Centre, in recognition of the contribution from the Emir of Kuwait.
Mrs Khan said it will provide the south Canberra Islamic community with a dedicated place of worship.
"We at the moment use the community hall to pray and it's not really ideal because the hall is a multi-purpose hall and then we often have to move the prayer mats out and reconfigure things for community purposes," she said.
"What this means is we have a dedicated place where we can pray and use it for that purpose as well as an Islamic education centre with dedicated classrooms and reading rooms.".
A spokesperson from the Kuwait embassy in Canberra said the embassy would be involved in the project from start to finish.
He said the building would "support a lot of people".
"The centre so far has been supported by the Australian government and the rest of the community. It's not just a mosque, it's a school, a library, it's a meeting point," he said.
Kuwait ambassador to Australia Najeeb Al-Bader, Canberra MP Gai Brodtmann and the Grand Mufti of Australia, Dr Ibrahim Abu Mohamed attended the official signing off of the funding arrangement on Tuesday.
"We are constantly on the lookout for funding, charitable donations and the like.
"This really was the result of a submission we put forward to the embassy of Kuwait some 18 months ago I think.
"It went through a very long process of consideration.
"It's not something we were expecting but we were hopeful because we did get some indication of some interest so we were kind of alerted a few months ago when they asked for more information.
"We started getting quite excited.
"We've been really quite hamstrung with funds so we could have to collect donations and once we had enough to do a piece of work, we'd do that work. What this means is we've got the full assurance that the funds are accessible to complete the entire job.
"We're aiming to complete it by March 2017.
"It's a dedicated place of worship. We at the moment use the community hall to pray and it's not really ideal because the hall is a multi-purpose hall and then we often have to move the prayer mats out and reconfigure things for community purposes. What this means is we have a dedicated place where we can pray and use it for that purpose as well as an Islamic education centre with dedicated classrooms and reading rooms to allow for more professionalised locations.
"It's in line with what the state of Kuwait does nationally. They look at similar proposals and they looked at ours and saw it was in line with their criteria for donations.
"I think they were impressed with the complex and the work we do there currently and I think they could see the value in providing this significant donation to that structure.
"They do a lot of work internationally of that nature and we met their criteria.
"We're very grateful to the Emir of Kuwait and the embassy and the ambassador Najeeb Al-Bader.