Darrell Greer
Northern News Services

Arviat (Jun 21/00) - The hamlet of Arviat needs to expand its airport to accommodate an increasing population, and take advantage of possible future economic opportunities.

Arviat Mayor David Alagalak identifies Arviat's airport as one of the top-three priorities in his community, along with housing and land assembly.

He says the airport's apron needs to be expanded to accommodate planes of any size.

"We also need to extend the airstrip because whenever there are weather problems, to some degree, the Saab has not been able to land here because the strip is to short," says Alagalak.

The mayor says he wants the community to be ready for future developments, when it comes to all important air travel in the Kivalliq.

"With the current growth of our community, we are able to predict that 10 to 20 years from now we are going to need a larger aircraft like a 737 jet or Hercules.

"This will also be important if the other communities or regions in Nunavut decide to make adjustments to airline routes."

Arviat now has upwards of five aircraft on the ground at once, and Alagalak says with current taxi space it's difficult for pilots to make necessary safety adjustments in the winter.

"This was especially true with the amount of snow we had this past winter.

"Nobody wants to see someone being put in possible danger when there are solutions."

Alagalak says the airport expansion should follow on the heels of sewage lagoons and water expansion, which also became necessary adjustments due to a growing population.

He says work in Arviat takes time and careful planning to be effective and he doesn't want necessary services to reach the critical stage.

"Arviat council is working hard to identify future land-development sites within the community.

"Arviat is a low land requiring a great deal of earth work for drainage systems to be effective. We need to identify the best way of developing an effective system with limited funds."