Posted Aug 11, 2014, 1:41 AM
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ARTchitecture
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Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: Cala Ghearraidh
Posts: 22,842
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Calls grow louder for deep-sea port in Iqaluit as it becomes Arctic boom town
The Canadian Press and Lee-Anne Goodman
Quote:
IQALUIT, Nunavut – Iqaluit, a territorial capital in a G7 nation, is an Arctic boomtown perched on the northern shores of Frobisher Bay — but the Nunavut town’s waterfront has scarcely changed since English explorer Martin Frobisher sailed into the inlet in 1576.
The growing community, clamouring for supplies that include building materials, construction equipment and all-terrain vehicles, boasts some of the world’s highest tides.
In the summer months, mammoth barges are forced to work around the 12-metre tides and race to unload their cargo onto the town’s craggy public beach, still studded with ice in mid-July. Sometimes they can’t unload at all because of high winds and excessive ice.
It’s a process that takes weeks longer than it would if even the most basic marine infrastructure existed in Iqaluit — such as a dock or working causeway. The city of Iqaluit has lobbied for a $65-million deep-sea port in recent years, but has gone mute on its current efforts, with officials declining to respond to requests for interviews.
In Greenland, the coastal town of Nuuk boasts a pristine deep-sea port and, unlike much of Iqaluit, paved roads. Denmark invests heavily in Greenland.
In Nunavik, Quebec’s Arctic region, there’s also been steady investment in marine infrastructure by the provincial and federal governments, easing the business of dropping off precious cargo to communities in need.
Not so for Iqaluit, considered Canada’s gateway to the high Arctic, a region where oil and gas exploration is on the brink of wide-scale development thanks to climate change. This despite the fact Ottawa seems intent on showcasing the town, even hosting a G7 finance ministers’ summit here in 2010.
Residents, local business owners and shipping companies alike are pleading with the municipal, territorial and federal governments to find the millions to do something about Iqaluit’s waterfront as the town of almost 7,000 buzzes with commerce, construction and a growing population.
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Source: http://www.660news.com/2014/07/14/ca...ng-arctic-hub/
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