Yellowknife (Apr 04/05) - In a move to recover more than $1 million in losses from a business deal that drew fire from auditor general Sheila Fraser, the NWT Housing Corp. is offering eight home kits to Northern residents.

The corporation assembled the house packages for a buyer in Barrow, Alaska, "but their board changed, their management changed and we got stuck," said Jeff Anderson, acting president and chief financial officer.

Nine house kits were shipped from Igloo Building Supplies in Hay River - winners of the tendered supply contract - to Barrow in August 2001, but only one was sold.

The kits, containing everything needed to build a house, plus shipping to Alaska and storage, cost the Housing Corp. $800,000, the auditor general noted.

Anderson said all but one of the remaining kits have since been shipped to Inuvik, Tsiigehtchic, Sachs Harbour and Holman where they are to be assembled this year and sold to Housing Corp. tenants.

"It's not really true that we overstepped," said Andersen. "Our business plan was reviewed by the government. We don't do any business without a mandate from cabinet."

Fraser observed in her report that "the money spent on the units and shipping could have been used to build houses in the Northwest Territories."