.

Home page

Text size

E-mail this page

PANNIQTUUQ/PANGNIRTUNG - Time is of the essence for construction of Pangnirtung's small craft harbour. The hamlet has until October 2010 to get the harbour finished or the federal funds allocated for it will dry up.

"It's use it or lose it," said Pangnirtung's senior administrative officer Ron Mongeau.

The federal government allocated a total of $25 million for the harbour in its last two budgets, but there's no guarantee of more money in next year's budget.

That means the money may stop flowing at the start of the government's fiscal year in April 2011. But since construction of a harbour can't happen when the water is frozen, the real deadline is the October freeze.

Right now the hamlet is "assembling the land and water resources" to proceed, meaning communicating with the various federal departments who are involved in regulatory processes before construction can begin: Environment, Fisheries and Oceans and Indian and Northern Affairs. Studies are also underway to investigate the wind, tides and soil conditions under the harbour's future site.

The hamlet is conferring with affected local organizations such as the Pangnirtung Hunters and Trappers Association and Pangnirtung Fisheries to come up with ideas about what their requirements are and what the design of the new harbour should be.

Mongeau said the hamlet wants to employ local businesses to keep as much of the cash in town as possible.

He hoped to bring some of the materials in on the 2009 sealift and put out tenders in the fall. That would allow construction to start as early as possible once the ice is gone in June or July 2010, leaving at most four months to complete it before the October freeze.

When asked if Pangnirtung had the capacity to build the harbour quickly enough Mongeau said "Yes!"

Alan Kathan of the DFO's Small Craft Harbours agency said some outside help will be needed to finish the project quickly. Depending on the final design, some specialized equipment may have to be brought in for things like dredging and driving piles, if necessary. Also, there may not be enough trucks in Pang to meet the sheer volume of work to be done.

"We want to get it done as quickly as we can," Kathan said.

The new harbour should be able to accommodate ships up to 80 feet long, according to Mongeau. That would enable fishing vessels to dock in Pang and process their catch at Pangnirtung Fisheries. Right now Pangnirtung Fisheries only processes fish caught through the ice or Arctic char caught from small boats.

The harbour would also allow fish from Pangnirtung to go to other communities by boat. Right now Pang's fish exports are by air, which is expensive and makes the industry less economically viable.

Jevua Maniapik, manager of the Pangnirtung HTA, said the harbour would also benefit hunters.

"They would be able to come in anytime, even at low tide. That would be very helpful because right now we have to wait for high tide," she said.

Mongeau also said Pangnirtung's tourism industry could benefit from a harbour by allowing bigger tourist boats to dock directly, rather than the present situation where tourists must be ferried by Zodiac skiff to shore.

He pointed out this will be the first such harbour in Nunavut. In contrast even the smallest communities in the Maritime provinces have one."We are playing catch-up," he said.