Inuvik-Tuktoyaktuk highway project management questioned by Tuk residents

Even the people who stand to benefit the most from the construction of anall-seasonInuvik toTuktoyaktuk highwayare concerned about the way the project is being managed.

Last week, the N.W.T. government settled a claim with EGT Northwind, the contractor building the road, after it claimed millions in cost overruns, but the government offered few details about the agreement.

Now, residents of Tuktoyaktukareexpressing concern.

"I am happy the road is finally going to happen. I just don't like the way it was handled," saysErnest T. Pokiak.

The 120-kilometre highway will provide the first all-season land connection to Tuktoyakuk, a community of about 850 on the Arctic coast. Thecommunity is currently only accessible by plane, by sea in summer and by ice road in winter.

The road is expected to cost $299 million, with $200 million of that coming from the federal government.

Pokiak says he isn't getting many answers about the project, and he's worried the highway will turn into another Deh Cho Bridge, where costs surged from a projected $55 million to more than $200 million.

He's not the first one to make that comparison Kevin Menicoche, the MLA for Nahendeh, recently called for the highway project to be put on hold, saying the government should have learned its lesson from the bridge.

"But I guess they didn't learn too much from that," Pokiak says.

Another Tuktoyaktuk resident,Elsie Nuttal,says the project needs to be more accountable.

"There should be an investigation about the amount of money they are at each time of year, during the different work seasons," she says.

"How many people you hire, how much you're paying them."

Resident Marjorie Ovayuak says sheisn't sure the road construction is benefiting Tuktoyaktuk. Ovayuak says she's noticed a number of workers from outside the community have been hired for the highway project, while qualified Inuvialuit people in Tuktoyaktuk go without work.

"Hire the right people instead of picking and choosing who gets to work,"Ovayuak says.

The territorial government says it's confident the highway will remain on budget and be completed in the winter of 2017/2018.