New jobs for settlement

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A new heavy oil plant under construction on the Elizabeth settlement is not only boosting employment, but has drawn an influx of settlement applications from people hoping to take advantage of new opportunities.

Chairman Archie Collins says the AMOCO plant, scheduled to open in early spring, has already employed between 20 and 30 laborers and another 20 settlement members are training as fourth class power engineers.

"We're training our people and we have a master agreement signed with AMOCO which clearly states that we, as settlement people, have first crack at all the work," he said.

The unemployment rate on the settlement is about 40 to 45 per cent, estimates Collins. "It (the plant) has given the settlement quite a boost."

Community Development Corp., a settlement owned company is the major contractor for the construction phase of the plant.

However, news of the employment opportunities soon got around and now Collins has noticed a huge increase in the number of people applying to live on the settlement.

The settlement council receives as many as 15 new membership applications each month. However, due to limited housing and power resources, Collins says it will be a few years before the settlement can even consider taking any new residents.