Fort Liard, Jean Marie bands closing in on housing pact
Derek Neary
Northern News Services
Fort Simpson (Mar 09/01) - Fort Liard needs houses.
Jean Marie River wants to sell housing packages.
That correlation isn't being overlooked by Jean Marie River chief Stanley Sanguez and Acho Dene Koe chief Judy Kotchea.
They are working on a deal whereby the Jean Marie mill would be used to produce log-home packages for Fort Liard.
"There's been a general agreement between ourselves and ADK that we will provide housing to Fort Liard because of the uniqueness of our log-turning mill," Sanguez said. "The way it's designed we can provide good housing a lot quicker."
Fort Liard has a growing population and needs 40 homes - single and small-family units - although not all of those will be provided by Jean Marie River. The deal will run into the millions of dollars and financial support will be required from the Housing Corporation, according to Kotchea and Sanguez.
However, they both said GNWT Housing Minister Roger Allen has expressed support for the initiative.
Many of the details have yet to be worked out.
But what is known is that Fort Liard has an abundance of aspen logs from clearing work related to oil and gas.
It's anticipated that Jean Marie River will pay to have the logs hauled for processing, according to Kotchea. Sanguez said Fort Liard will contribute to training funding for mill employees and Jean Marie River will get to keep a percentage of the logs.
Kotchea said the Acho Dene Koe is still interested in operating its own saw mill, but Jean Marie's mill is ideal for the type of logs required and the deal would benefit both First Nations for the time being.
"Rather than jumping in and getting a mill like that, we'd rather just try things out," she said, adding that a prototype home will be constructed before the deal goes through. "This is a win-win situation."
Sanguez said he's expecting the logs will begin to be processed by this summer.
"I'm just happy... if this saw mill takes off, then we have a sustainable program," he said.
