Maria Canton
Northern News Services

Gjoa Haven (Aug 28/00) - After waiting for more than two years, tots in Gjoa Haven will soon have a playspace to call their own.

Construction on a new $240,000 day care centre, called Nutarqanut Pairivik, is expected to be complete by Oct. 1.

Financed by a federal grant that is being administered by Pauktuutit, an Inuit women's association, the project is on schedule, according to the general manager of the local development corporation.

"Right now the building is enclosed and there are two people working on the plumbing and electrical work," said Rick Phaneuf.

"We're very pleased. Everything is on track. The day care committee has been waiting for two years to get this project off the ground, I guess it just needed to be kickstarted.

"It's going to be very nice when it's complete, we're getting close to the finishing touches -- cupboards, drywalling and painting,"Phaneuf said.

Members of the day care committee are already holding meetings to decide how many employees they will need to hire and when they should register the first children.

"We used to have a day care a long time ago, but it was in an old Co-op owned bunkhouse, we are very happy to be getting this new building, we've been trying since 1998," said Winnie Hatkaittuq.

"We're just in the process of deciding how we are going to run everything and how many people to hire and when to start getting the kids ready -- we are meeting about these things now."

Hatkaittuq says the day care is much needed in the community and she expects it will be well used.

"There are a lot of single, working moms, a lot of families where both parents work and a lot of teen moms who will be going back to school and need someone to look after their kids," she said.

"It's difficult to find babysitters all of the time and especially when summer is over."