Charles Iggulden, president of the Fort McMurray Construction Association, said his group is mobilizing the 200 companies that make up its membership, which together employ about 10,000 people, in a co-ordinated effort to get back to work, The Financial Post reports. He estimates the rebuild will take a year or two.
“We are pushing to get some of the smaller projects going, and the cleanup,” he said. “The biggest thing is that as people start rebuilding their lives, they get back to work so they come back to Fort McMurray.”
Iggulden said in the published report that Fort McMurray’s construction industry was working at half capacity because of the downturn. But it’s ready to step up immediately, and is pushing to get the work associated with the reconstruction. The association sent letters to the Alberta government seeking bridge financing to get construction going.
The Financial Post also reports that Russell Dauk, vice president, land and commercial, at the Rohit Group of Companies, said the time is right to get started because companies such as his have access to people and equipment that have not been put to work in the past 15 months.
