Iqaluit (Dec 22/03) - Fearing the cold, and a holiday without power, tardy businesses and home owners in Iqaluit finally forked over money they owed to the Nunavut Power Corporation last week.

On Tuesday, 48-hour disconnection notices were sent to 401 businesses and private home owners, including several housing authority tenants.

"Our response has been really good," said Jobie Inooya, a customer service representative at NPC in Iqaluit. "We had 81 per cent respond. By Wednesday, about 326 customers had either paid in full or made a partial payment plan with us."

Inooya estimates the average payment made by homeowners was between $300 and $500.

According to NPC regulations, when a person or business goes 45 days without paying their power bill, the 48 hour disconnection notice kicks in.

Nunavut inherited NWT's collection policy. But there's an extra catch in Nunavut -- there is a lack of Inuktitut speakers at the NPC office in Iqaluit as well as a slow computer system that delays the delivery of notices. "There's a reason here why so many people are owing. Our software was pretty slow until today," said Inooya. "Doing 13 communities in Baffin it takes quite a bit of time to give out notices. We've been doing them every third month," said Inooya.

Currently, no one at the NPC payment collection office in Iqaluit speaks Inuktitut. This has caused distress for many who have tried calling the NPC for last-minute information.

Inooya said the NPC has been without a bilingual payment office worker for more than eight months. "I was always available if someone needed an interpreter," said Inooya. Other Inuit office workers were willing to help when needed, he added. "I was just a fingertip away."

Right now a customer services position is open at NPC. The person must be bilingual.

NPC hopes to fill the position early in the new year.

As for the 20 per cent who had not paid up by Wednesday, there is still a monthly payment plan option they can work out with NPC.