Rigolet gets 'Band-Aid' solution for lack of oil and gas supply
An agreement has been reached to supply Rigolet with oil and gasoline — at least for now.
The coastal Labrador community has been without an oil and gas supply for three weeks, after the Rigolet Inuit community council gave up running the sole station in the area after 13 years operating it at a loss.
The Nunatsiavut Group of Companies, along with the Nunatsiavut government, will be stepping in to temporarily take over operations while a request for proposals is out to find a permanent operator.
"It's been stressful," Coun. Chelsea Morris said. "Three weeks is a little longer than we had hoped for."
The community council had only ever intended to take on the responsibility for gas services temporarily, and hoped the town would have been out of fuel for only about two weeks.
"There's always a few bumps along the road," Morris said. "We're just hoping it won't be too much longer."
The Nunatsiavut government stepped in to help find an interim operator, and the Nunatsiavut Group of Companies will now be running the gas station only until a permanent operator has time to set up shop.
A Band-Aid fix
"The point of the interim operator was just to give someone who is interested in taking it over for a long period of time — we're hoping for the rest of the future — time to prepare," Morris said.
"It's more like a Band-Aid to help the community."
The Nunatsiavut government has issued a request for proposals to take over fuel operations permanently.
"NGC has decided they are ready to step down when they feel the long-term operator is ready," Morris said.
Request for proposals out
"We've had lots of interest in the last few weeks. It can definitely be profitable if it's managed properly."
Morris said the business is not the kind of operation the town should be looking after.
"We should really be focused on our town services and how we can make our community better."
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