Pelly Bay (Aug 21/06) - When you are shipping something in Nunavut, sometimes it pays to think big. The hamlet of Kugaaruk did that when it chartered a First Air 737 on Aug. 7.

Filled with supplies for the hamlet garage, the flight could eventually end up saving the community money. Improvements to the insulation of the hamlet's garage are expected to save 30 per cent on the annual heating bill.

"We financed it through a bank loan, and it is for about a quarter of a million dollars," said Kugaaruk SAO Elwood Johnston.

He expected that the money will be recovered through various government funding.

"Those garages were built in the 1970's and 80's, and they needed the work. Now, they are insulated to R-30 and R-40," said Johnston.

Saving 30 per cent on heating costs could be a major benefit to the hamlet. Nunavut has enjoyed some of the lowest prices in Canada for fuel over the last year.

With the government setting fuel prices year by year - and with a huge jump in international fuel costs since the last price fix in September 2005 - no one will know how much money will be saved until next month.

The 5,000-foot runway in Kugaaruk was long enough for a 737, but no one had tried landing that large of a plane there before. First Air sent inspectors to the hamlet three weeks prior to the flight, to make sure the runway could handle the load.

Kugaaruk ordered 26,000 pounds of material to insulate their garages, and were able to ship it for $1.50 a pound ($3.21 a kilogram).

The garages house two water trucks, two sewer trucks, a garbage truck, the hamlet fire truck, graders, loaders and a wide variety of pick-up trucks.