Rankin Inlet (Oct 06/03) - Six new cabins will soon be placed on the land near Rankin Inlet as safe havens for travellers and search members.

The cabins are the latest step in a new initiative launched this past summer by the Rankin search-and-rescue (SAR) committee.

Technical advisor David Ittinuar said the SAR committee hopes to have the cabins on the land prior to the new year.

"We already have the first one built, which we knew would take a little longer to construct than the rest," said Ittinuar.

"From now on we're targeting having one completed per week.

"Once construction is finished, we'll have to wait for enough snow and ice to form to make it easier to transport them to their identified sites."

The cabins will be towed to the sites by Bombardier.

They will be fully stocked and available to travellers caught on the land when bad weather hits or as rest stations for SAR members out on searches.

Ittinuar said the $25,000 needed to construct the cabins is being provided by the Community Initiatives program.

He said the Rankin SAR committee is also using bingo revenues to upgrade its operations facility in the community.

"We got underway during the summer by replacing the main water tank, the furnace and the hot water tank.

"We also took the main building off of the utilidor because there wasn't enough people there on a full-time basis to allow it to function properly.

"It's been problematic over the years."

The committee also placed a 14-metre trailer next to its main operations building.

An extra door and walkway were added to join the two structures, with the trailer being used to store blankets and other equipment.

"We started those renovations first because Nunavut Arctic College was kind enough to donate its facilities, which allowed us to wait a bit to build the cabins because we knew were going to be inside sheltered quarters.

"We've added quite a bit of new equipment and technology to our resources during the past two years.

"Hopefully, the upgrades will contribute to more successful searches when SAR is called into action."