Kerry McCluskey
Northern News Services

Pelly Bay (Aug 13/01) - Road and bridge builders in Pelly Bay weren't off work for as long as they thought they were going to be.

When recent dips of the community's diesel tank showed just 88,000 litres of fuel remained, the team of 20 hamlet employees was told they'd be laid off for as long as five weeks.

Because the road and bridge project eats up about 5,000 litres of diesel a week, officials made the decision to halt the project until the community could be resupplied.

To further compound the situation, the hamlet was told that it is likely the fuel tanker would arrive late this fall, meaning the remaining resources would have to be stretched even farther.

All things combined, the Nunavut Department of Public Works made the decision to airlift 18,100 litres of fuel into the community.

The resupply meant the 20 workers were back on the job the same week.

"They were only off work for a day and a half at the most," said a relieved Quinn Taggart, the hamlet's senior administrator. "Now we're back on track and making good progress," he said.

Susan Makpah, the director of the petroleum products division for the department, said a Hercules aircraft made two trips into the community early last week to complete the resupply mission.

While Kugaaruk already received 297,000 litres of diesel via airlift this spring, Makpah said the weather made it necessary for the Hercules to touch down once again.

"The temperature was very cool this spring. We had to airlift to accommodate that weather," said Makpah.

She also said the aircraft made one trip into Gjoa Haven (21,800 litres) and one trip into Taloyoak (16,200 litres) to top up their aviation fuel supply.

Makpah said a higher-than-expected volume of air traffic depleted the fuel faster than they budgeted for. "We didn't account for the extra. We had no idea new airlines were going to start flying there."

The total cost to the government of Nunavut for the latest fuel delivery is slightly less than $100,000.