Kerry McCluskey
Northern News Services

Gjoa Haven (Jan 24/00) - To make matters worse in the flu stricken community of Gjoa Haven, the town has pipe problems in the water system.

"It's not functioning very well," said Raymond Kamookak, the hamlet's senior administrative officer.

He explained that due to a crack in one of the lines that feeds water to the community, residents have had to revert to their former method of retrieving water from the water lake.

"We had to make a hole in the lake and pump the water out from there," said Kamookak.

"We fill up the water trucks and deliver the water like we did in the past," he said.

The necessary part for the water pipe has been ordered from Yellowknife and Kamookak, one of the many recovering flu patients, said it should have reached the Kitikmeot hamlet by the end of last week.

Even though many of his fellow residents are staying home because they are sick, Kamookak said they were exercising patience and understanding with the slow rate at which their tanks were being refilled.

"It takes a little bit more time, but we told the local radio station to ask people to try and conserve water and be patient," he said.

"We'll get to the houses one way or the other. It should be OK."