Six years after a devastating flood destroyed homes on Lake St. Martin First Nation and forced the residents to evacuate, the first of a new batch of houses will be delivered to the community.
“My goal was getting them back to their homes and to nature to Reserve land,” said Lake St. Martin Chief Adrian Sinclair. “The big day is coming when we actually open the houses for the First Nation. That’s the big day I’m waiting for right now.”
Sinclair hopes to see 25 families home by July and see 190 families return by the end of November.
Last November, the federal Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada put out a bid for tenders to build 150 homes in the community. Matix Lumber won its $32 million bid and hired 60 people from Lake St. Martin First Nation to help.
The company held a celebration Thursday morning to mark the first home leaving their yard and heading to the site.
“We will be shipping about 10 a week, and then we will be increasing it to about 15 a week,” said Tony Matic, president of Matix Lumber.
Chief Sinclair, members of the council and representatives of the provincial and federal government attended the ceremony. The rebuild project has been named Operation Return Home.
In 2011, nearly 2,000 residents of Lake St. Martin First Nation were evacuated due to heavy spring flooding, and many have been living in hotels and rental suites in Winnipeg and other places ever since, waiting to return home.
Lake St. Martin is about 225 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg.
