The Northland prison project at Ngawha, near Kaikohe, is providing jobs for the unemployed.
The Department of Corrections says more than 60 previously unemployed people are among the 200 workers building the new Northland regional corrections facility.
The number of workers on site is expected to peak at up to 400, many likely to have been previously unemployed.
The department, its local partner the Ngati Rangi Development Society, Mainzeal, which is building the complex, and Work and Income were delighted with the response from local people taking up jobs.
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