Construction underway on new road for partially evacuated town of Old Fort

The Ministry of Transportationhasstarted construction on a temporary road to provide access to a small community near Fort St. John, B.C., which was evacuated due to a slow-moving landslide earlier this month.

The area around the slide in Old Fort has stabilized enough for construction to begin, the ministry said in a written statement.The project is expected to be finished within three weeks.

As of Friday morning, residents of thesmall town in northeastern British Columbia were frustrated not at mother nature, but at the response from local government.

Thelandslide has been causing problems for Old Fort since October 7,pushing roughly 200 people out of their homes.

"They won't say a doggone thing about timelines," said Gord Pardy, an Old Fort resident.

"What we're looking for is a strong indication and strong desire to be presented by the [Peace River Regional District] that we are going back home and we're not hearing that."

'Lack of communication'

The evacuation order was rescinded Thursday for some evacuees, but many others are still stuck living in hotel rooms.

"My biggest concern is communication it's a lack of transparency from the regional district," said Old Fort resident Scott Campbell.

Campbell said residents need more information about what is being done and when things will be up and running again. He wants the order lifted for all residents.

"I understand that they are erring on the side of caution but it's gone too far," he said.

"Where we live here, none of us that I know of feel any danger at all."

At least one home was damaged in the landslide and the main road in and out of Old Fort was almost completely destroyed, cutting off the community.

Too much for regional districts

Brad Sperling, chair of the Peace River Regional District, said it's "horrible" having to make calls about when and where to evacuate.

"It's a terrible feeling but it's a responsibility that has been placed on regional districts by the province," he told Carolina de Ryk, the host of CBC's Daybreak North.

"We stand up and we do what we have to do but there is just no way this should be placed on local government."

CBCreached out to Emergency Management B.C. whichsaidemergency management isa shared responsibility between the province and local governments.

It sayslocal jurisdictions are responsible fortheir own emergencies, adding that it will only step in if the event worsens and requires significant response efforts.

"The local government is still expected to continue response efforts in these situations, to the best of their capability and capacity," said Emergency Management BC.

Itannounced Friday that financial assistanceis available to eligible residents of the Peace River Regional District.

The assistance is available for those unable to obtain insurance to coverlosses related to the landslide.

Those who think they're eligible, can apply online.

Post emergency assessment

Sperling said he plans to bring up his concerns with other regional districts once the landslide emergency is resolved and will review the district's communication protocol with residents, particularly for days when there was nothing new to report.

"There were days that the geotechnical people weren't able to even give us any information," he said.

"We look to take a look at if there was no information, how did we put that out to the people."

With files from Daybreak North and Greg Rasmussen.

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