On Tuesday, St. Barbe District PC MHA Wallace Young presented a petition in the House of Assembly on behalf of the residents and supporters of the town of Anchor Point who are urging the government to improve road and water and sewer conditions in the town. Young said the petition was signed by well over 100 people in and around the town of Anchor Point. It has a shrimp plant, a dragger fleet, and an inshore fishery. The town has flourished despite the harsh economic conditions that have plagued most of the Northern Peninsula, yet there isn't a plan in place to ensure decent living conditions for the community. We see what has happened in Walkerton, Ontario and North Battleford, Saskatchewan.
Provincial governments take the blame when faulty municipal water systems claim people's health.
The buck stops on the desks of the Ministers of Transportation, of Municipal Affairs, of Health and of the Environment, because this is a petition that should worry all of them. We cannot keep mufflers on our vehicles, and the life expectancy of our vehicles is only half what it should be. When work starts in our local plant and tractor trailers start using the road, we are left with potholes full of shrimp runoff and mud trenches in the roads because they are too soft for big trucks to use. Young says residents of Anchor Point are not asking for luxuries. They are asking for something as basic as a healthy environment in which to live and raise their families.