RIGOLET, N.L. — The closure of the only gas station in Rigolet has been staved off yet again. The community government of the small Labrador town has agreed to take over the operation of the gas station in the community on a short-term basis.
A release from the Rigolet Inuit Community Government (RIGC) sent on Sept. 28 said it will operate the gas station in the interim until a long-term solution can be found.
“While we understand there is still much uncertainty around the future of the gas station, rest assured that we will continue to work with all stakeholders as all options are being explored,” the release said.
There may be some interruption in service, it said, but RIGC will be operating it for now.
AngajukKâk (Mayor) Charlotte Wolfrey of RIGC, told SaltWire it isn’t the job of a community government to run a gas station. When RICG ran it before it cost them money, she said, but they had to ensure the people of Rigolet had access to fuel for the winter.
“We are negotiating with the Nunatsiavut government to try to make sure that we don’t run into any debts from it,” Wolfrey said.
She said they’ve also been working with the federal government and Labrador MP Yvonne Jones to see if there is any federal funding available to help with the operation of the gas station. But, in the long term, they need to find a private operator to make it viable.
This isn’t the first time RIGC has had to run the gas station in the town of just over 300. The community government stepped in before when no private operator could be found and subsequently ran it for 13 years.
That changed in 2019 when NGC Solutions Inc. (NSI), a subsidiary of the Nunatsiavut Group of Companies, took over the operation until Nov. 30, 2019.
When a new operator could not be found before the deadline, NSI agreed to extend its operation until Sept. 30, 2020. It announced two weeks ago it would not be extending the contract.
