Cape Dorset school fire: Nunavut Premier Peter Taptuna meets with hamlet, DEA
Taptuna says he's instructed departments to move quickly on rebuilding
Nunavut Premier Peter Taptuna made his first visit to the hamlet of Cape Dorset since a fire destroyed the community's high school, saying that he's committed to moving quickly to rebuild the school.
Three young people were arrested in connection with the fire, which destroyed Peter Pitseolak High School in early September.
High school students are still split-shifting with elementary students at Sam Pudlat school, with elementary students attending from 8 a.m.-12 p.m. and high school students from 1-5 p.m.
Taptuna, who visited Cape Dorset last week with local MLA David Joanasie, said that the community has sacrificed space and programs to make sure students can complete their studies.
"It's a small community and to lose a major infrastructure like that has huge impact and implications on a community like that," Taptuna told CBC News.
Taptuna said that while he was in the community, he met with the hamlet council and DEA about the plan going forward.
"As the premier, I've instructed the departments to move quickly on this to make sure things are taken care of and getting to a point that we can actually start constructing a new school for Cape Dorset," he said.
A spokesperson for community and government services says the department is still in talks with the hamlet to determine where the new school will go and when construction will begin.
Corrections
- A previous version of this story said high school classes are being held in community buildings. In fact, high school students are still sharing the elementary school while a plan to hold classes in community buildings has yet to be approved.Oct 08, 2015 6:07 PM CT