New road, Bridge at Kugaaruk
Kerry McCluskey
Northern News Services
Kugaaruk (Oct 30/00) - Once threatened by a tangle of red tape, the road and bridge project in Kugaaruk (Pelly Bay) made progress this season.
So much so that the department of national defence is getting ready to cut a cheque for $400,000.
DND committed to contributing money to the project if the hamlet of Kugaaruk completed the road and bridge by the summer of 2001. The military can use the road in the clean-up of a nearby DEW-line site, and save almost $500,000.
"It made sense for us to contribute what we thought the savings would be," said Pete Quinn, DND's project manager for the DEW-line.
The hamlet originally wanted to build the road and bridge to reach a new source of gravel. After months of bureaucratic wrangling the GN approved the project and a deal was struck with the military.
Quinn said he is confident the hamlet can meet the deadline (by sealift season, 2001) and that DND will be able to call for bids to have the DEW-line site cleaned up. He also said a tender call for the clean-up of the abandoned site near Qikiqtarjuaq would go out at the same time -- early in the new year.
Quinn Taggart, the senior administrator in Kugaaruk, said construction on the 13 kilometre stretch of road went better than expected this summer.
"We ran out of (diesel fuel) in the community and had to suspend operations...until the sealift came in," said Taggart, but good weather allowed workers to make up for the delay.
Up to 30 residents of Kugaaruk worked on the project that generated more than $150,000 in wages. The pay cheques and $200,000 spent on equipment rentals created a mini-boom in the Kitikmeot community.
"All of (the money) ends up circulating in the community. Not a lot of it goes outside," said Taggart.
"That's good money in the community."
