Government agencies have concerns
Kerry McCluskey
Northern News Services
Kugaaruk (Apr 30/01) - A fast-track plan to get a bridge built before the sealift has hit a new snag.
Stephanie Briscoe, the executive director of the Nunavut Impact Review Board (NIRB), said two of the 20 agencies consulted on the amended design for a bridge near Kugaaruk/Pelly Bay have concerns about the structure.
Briscoe, based in Cambridge Bay, said the Department of Fisheries and Oceans and Environment Canada both had concerns however, they were unable to comment by press time last week.
This isn't the first trouble for the project.
The first bridge design was rejected because it interfered with fish habitat.
A second design was developed by CGT and fast-tracked by NIRB. Parties interested in the project had until April 25 to forward concerns and comments.
Briscoe said the next step was to give CGT the opportunity to respond to those concerns. That response and the concerns will then be sent to board members who will decide the fate of the project.
"I'm optimistic that we can have that decision by Monday or Tuesday," said Briscoe.
The board has four options to choose from. If they decide to approve the project, the proposal will be issued the appropriate permits and licenses and work will proceed.
However, if the board decides the proposal requires further review, requires clarification or needs to be rejected, the matter is forwarded to Indian Affairs Minister Robert Nault, who makes the final decision.
Time is of the essence because if the road and bridge project is completed within days of the arrival of the first sealift into Kugaaruk, the Department of National Defence will pay the hamlet $400,000.
DND made that commitment because the contractor they will hire to work on cleaning up the nearby Distant Early Warning-line site can use the road and bridge. That three-year project is scheduled to begin this summer.
