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PANNIQTUUQ/PANGNIRTUNG - The hamlet of Pangnirtung has instructed SAO Ron Mongeau to try and determine why the construction of the new health centre has taken so long and more importantly, when the new building will be open for patients.

"Council has not been formally advised of any opening date," said Mongeau.

The opening date for the new building was originally set for November 2008. He said many in the community are wondering why the building appears substantially complete but no furniture is coming in.

Department of Health spokeswoman Yasmina Pepa said the lack of furniture had nothing to do with the project's delays. She said construction of the building has been behind schedule and the Department of Health didn't order the furniture because Pangnirtung lacks the storage capacity to keep it until construction is finished.

Some of the furniture is already in town, but the rest won't come in until the 2009 sealift.

"We're kind of at the mercy of sealift schedule," Pepa said.

Meanwhile, delicate medical electronic systems can't handle extremes of heat and cold, so they won't come in until the building is complete.

Construction of the new health centre has been plagued by "minor architectural and mechanical deficiencies," according to Paul Nulak, project support manager for the Department of Community and Government Services.

"Construction in the North is not an easy thing," Nulak said. "They have experienced some issues around quality and quantity control, mainly around material procurement in inclement weather."

For example, Nulak said if construction workers incorrectly installed some materials, those materials could be damaged when they were removed in order to install them correctly. If this happened, there may not be enough of the proper materials to finish the task.

Construction materials aren't locally available in Pangnirtung, so when materials run out, waiting for re-supply isn't an option. Workers make do with what they have, and sometimes the results aren't good enough.

CGS responded to the problems by hiring a "clerk of the works," an experienced construction professional to help troubleshoot such glitches and with the authority to order new supplies by air if no other option was available. CGS is anticipating construction should be complete this week, almost a year after the originally scheduled date of March 31, 2008.

After that the Department of Health will take possession of the facility and will start moving furniture and equipment in. Pepa said the facility should be up and running by August.