Thursday, July 17, 2008

Signage.




I noticed this new sign down the dock yesterday. There are no government information kiosks at the points of entry to Labrador, but this sign will point out to the lucky few [who made it to the end of the line] whence they came.

There is some vital information missing from these signs, unless you are from Nain then the missing information would just add to the inconveniences that are thrown at the traveler. Not to mention the name of the Province is incomplete, but hey, it's the new brand.
By the by: the Minister of transport was in town for several hours yesterday. The minister was receiving close up information from the users from the confines of the cab of a pickup when I saw her.
This is from the PR blurb of her pending trip. "Minister Whelan has demonstrated a keen interest in the thoughts and ideas of community leaders throughout Labrador," said the Honourable John Hickey, Minister of Labrador Affairs. "As this government moves forward with its mandate under the Northern Strategic Plan for Labrador to improve and advance road, marine and air infrastructure, it is essential to have the direct input of the people who use these modes of transportation. Minister Whalen will have the invaluable opportunity to receive that input face-to-face."

Continuing with the marine theme: The mv Astron made it as fare as Makkovik this run, it is now back in Cartwright loading ports to Nain. Seems strange, some one mentioned that they forgot something and had to go back for it. So by the time gets here it will be about 17 days since last arrival.
Not that there's any rush, the store shelves are only 3/4 empty, ways to go yet before they are full empty.

2 comments:

mealyman said...

I'm not sure if you are aware of this, but even though freight for the North Coast is loaded on the Astron at Lewisporte, the reality is a LARGE amount of freight going north is still trucked into Cartwright or is brought in via The Sir Robert Bond.

I dont understand how the government can subsidize freight going north by ship and not by truck. A truck subsidized system would mean cheaper freight leaving Cartwright for ports north as well as a MUCH QUICKER turn around time. When this was tried a few years ago it was literally set up to fail with poor scheduling and all around mis-management, this due to the fact that even though boats were leaving Cartwright, management was still in Lewisporte.

Brian said...

Hi mealyman:I was not aware that freight is still being trucked in the Cartwright in large volumes, strange that, wonder what goods and who for.
You are right, the past attempt to ship via Cartwright was a complete shambles, [I believe Percy Barrett was the minister] and management of the whole system leaves lots to be desired to this day.
If we go by the government at the times argument that the nearest end of road point is where the goods are shipped from then Cartwright’s days would be numbered any way.

The North Coasts argument is that if the goods are purchased on the Island then they need to be shipped the cheapest possible way. Politics came into play in a big way for sure. Barrett’s plan had us [North Cost] paying up to $800.00 more per container via Cartwright than via Lewisport. Now that Lewisport Wholesalers is out of the picture then things could be different, I’m not up to date on where most of the goods are ordered from this year.

If the road freight was subsidized like you say then the North Coast would go along with that, but like I say, Goose Bay would then come into play when the road is finished.