Gjoa Haven RCMP investigate damaged modular housing units
Incident could lead to delays for those in hamlet who need homes, says Kikitak Housing Association
Wooden kitchen shelves are ripped apart inside one of seven modular housing units damaged in Gjoa Haven after a series of recent break-ins. (Photo courtesy of Nunavut RCMP)
Seven modular housing units in the works for Gjoa Haven have been damaged in a series of break-ins, RCMP said Thursday in a news release.
Police were notified of the damage at about 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday, said RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Ashley Daley in an email to Nunatsiaq News.
The units are located on the north side of the community along Seal Street, the release said.
The RCMP do not have an exact timeline for when they believe the break-ins occurred and says the monetary value of the damage is still being assessed, Daley said.
Kikitak Housing Association, which manages and maintains public housing in Gjoa Haven under an agreement with Nunavut Housing Corp., said in a Facebook post Thursday that the “recently vandalized” homes incurred “significant damage.”
The association warned that the damage could cause delays for people waiting for housing.
“Our team is currently working to secure the units and prevent any further damage,” the post said.
Kikitak Housing Association manager Kofi Ampofo was reached by Nunatsiaq News Thursday but declined to share further details.
Nunatsiaq News also contacted Nunavut Housing Corp., which did not respond by publication time.
Much ado about nothing! GN brought in these modular units, hired NCC to work on them and been sitting there for the past 2-3 years. Way to go Nunavut 3000!
Good to know that you’re OK with mindless vandalism and that NCC’s delays are a reason for trashing houses.
Im sure if you asked whoever vandalized these there reasoning would be “they did it because of NCC delays”
The flippant attitude toward major vandalism really underlies problems.
I bet the total cost of the repairs would actually be enough to build a home where “some” people aren’t as flippant about money.
Be interesting to know if there are fencing specs in the contract that were not erected and not enforced…
Yes, because targeted vandalism is clearly the contractor’s fault….
Fault will be at the root of the damages claim and who will foot the bill. The answer will be wheter the damages (which vandalism and theft are foreseeable) ought to have been prevented and who was responsible to prevent them. Fencing around construction projects also considers safety. Someone has to foot the bill and neither party to the contract will want to bear this cost. They will want to recover it.
Funny note most communities have a bylaw prohibiting fences unless your the church.
Imagine targeting new housing in a community with a dire housing crisis.
If they figure out who the perpetrators are, those people should be banned from ever living in public housing. Nunavut needs to start actually implementing consequences for these actions.
This really shows how bad our communities have become, in the last 20 years our communities have gone down so much, with so much cuts over the years in all levels, recreation, community programs, social programs, on top of that housing shortages for decades, our communities are hurting so much today, suicides have increased so much, it’s young people who take their own lives, no prospects for our youth. Our government is concentrating on Iqaluit, Rankin and Cambridge Bay, while leaving the rest behind. No amount of posters by the GN will make things better, we need meaningful programs, training, jobs, all we see is people coming here to work and leaving. These vandalism do not just happen, it’s the by product of the sad state our communities and people are in. Enough with status quo and ignoring the terrible situation our communities are in. Majority of the GN employees especially the managers and directors do not visit the communities, they have no clue how bad it has become. Our elected officials need to be held accountable! If they cannot or will not do their job they need to step down or be removed, enough is enough with the poor leadership, pretending everything is ok, we need real leadership that is not afraid to ask the tough questions and demand answers! Leadership that will stand up to the bureaucracy and hold them accountable. It’s only getting worse and this is not the spirit of Nunavut that we worked so hard to get, turning into a transit system that continues to fail Nunavut. We need to demand accountability and demand better from our MLAs!
Decaying society. Corruption, crime, drug and alcohol abuse. Lack of trained staff that come to work. Children having children sexual and physical abuse, theft, lack of housing. Poor attendance and low graduation numbers in school. No work ethic, no respect for property or each other. Murder. incest, arson, no leadership.
I know i left a lot out. Don’t people see that this type of crime is nothing to be upset about. Because its just part of the fabric here in Nunavut.
The south same problems. That are decimating that society also.
Up here there is no shame when crime happens, Why is it the culture. Is it the hopelessness or a don’t care attitude. Something needs to change,
And it’s not more money to wasted on useless programs. That bring no lasting value to society.
Many of the traits I listed are becoming cellular in the population. Meaning it has been accepted for so long. The it’s become part of the DNA of culture.
Because our GN is so disconnected to Nunavut, that is the big problem, we get new hires each year at the GN majority of them that never been to Nunavut before and majority of them that never heard of Nunavut before who come here to work at our government for 3-5 years, then a new batch comes in does the same thing over and over since Nunavut came to be. This disconnect and trying to cookie cutter policies and programs from where they come from to here does not work. When you don’t understand the culture and the people you serve and spend programs that do very little for the people it’s a huge waste of government resources.
Our GN has been failing for a very long time now and yet our politicians have pretended it’s not, I agree we need better leadership because they have not done the job as this government continues to fail.
With a revolving door of GN employees it’s difficult to have that corporate knowledge as the turnover rate is so high, they can’t see how things have changed in the last 15 years, every 5 years or so a new manage or director comes in and it starts all over again without accomplishing anything. All the while the same issues play out.
It’s really not working. Our government is broken and the focus seems to be to duct tape and hold it together, something has to give.
I certainly agree with the top comments
Government jobs are taken by non- residents and non- beneficiaries working for a pension which all should have fall on Nunavut resident beneficiaries.
Gm needs to overhaul this and stop this nonsense of hiring non – beneficiaries working in Nunavut,
Instead of waiting for southern contractors the housing corporations should actually hire locals and start training on the job programs to alleviate the crisis that the Nunavut communities are experiencing
Our elected officials are not doing their capacity in their jobs as they’ve been elected by popularity consistently year after year since inauguration of our territory
The rcmp has no authority in most Nunavut communities as well and they also revolve their members and never have any special constabulary hires who are permanent residents of Nunavut communities
The community offices such as the hamlet authority should have local By- law officers trained in communications and have arresting authority for the betterment of local safety
The communities should all have night watch programs and train local behaviour knowledge of known individuals. It not the culture of Nunavut residents that makes them the way things are now.
We in our territory should realize that in our current situation