Sailors get police escort out of Makkovik after surprise landing.

Two people aboard a sailboat flying a Norwegian flag landed in Makkovik on Monday, according to Barry Andersen, AngajukKak in Makkovik.

He says “We see a lot of those yachts or sailboats in our harbour every year, I guess, but this year is unusual.”

Unusual, because those boats are banned this summer.

Temporary Federal Rules were brought in June 1st, profiting all pleasure crafts from operating along coastal Labrador as well as coastal Northern Quebec and Canada’s Arctic waters. The restrictions are to last til October 31st, as a way to protect vulnerable communities from the spread of COVID-19.

When the boat arrived, Andersen called the RCMP to investigate. Police told him the crew had sailed from Greenland to Makkovik, the shortest route across that stretch of water to be able to refuel, and as the boat approached Labrador, it ran into trouble.

“The crew advised them that the boat had taken on water off from Makkovik yesterday night and they had to come in here to see what the problem was” he said and added the boat was fairly small estimating it to be 38 to 40 feet long.

Although Andersen says that sailing from Greenland can take up to 10 days, people in the community were still worried about the strangers sudden arrival.

“It was concerning at first but the length of time I guess they had been at sea, I’ve been told they’re not showing any signs of the COVID-19 virus” he told CBC Radio Labrador Morning. Andersen says “We don’t know who else is out there.”

Police escorted the 2 sailors, whose nationality is unknown, by air to Happy Valley- Goose Bay to deal with federal authorities about their unexpected entry into Canada.

While most visitors in a normal summer are tourists, “We don’t know what the intentions is of those individuals were,” said Andersen.

With the sailors now gone and their boat in police custody, Andersen said he’s comfortable with how the situation was handled, although it raises questions about who else may be offshore.

“We don’t know who else is out there, probably in the same situation, that’s sailing around” he said.

“If there are others out there, where did they come from? How long have they been out there? Do they have contact with the virus?”

Transport Canada’s temporary small craft restrictions don’t apply to boats operated by locals and used for essential travel for fishing and hunting.

A lot of customers were wondering what happened to the Airlines in Happy Valley Goose Bay this morning.

We spoke with General Manager Goronwy Price with the Goose Bay Airport.

Price says as the Goose Bay Airport Corporation was undergoing maintenance on the main runway.

He says early this morning they noticed the main runway needed maintenance work done before any aircraft can be in operation.

But he adds that the runway that was closed; is back in operation since 1pm.

The Goose Bay airlines would like to thank everyone for being patient.

We also spoke with Yvonne Jones who is our MP for Labrador.

She said last evening one of the aircraft that landed in Goose Bay caused damage to the runway 16/34.

The other runway 08/26 was closed for construction.

The runway was closed temporarily for safety issues, but the runway is now reopened.

The Nunatsiavut Government received Federal monies in March; these funds were to help support our beneficiaries in Nunatsiavut.

We spoke with Yvonne Jones who is our MP for Labrador.

She says that she has been getting really good feedback about the initiatives that the federal government has provided to beneficiaries.

She would like to inform our listeners about the new benefits people are entitled to.

She adds that it’s been a lot of work in dealing with constituency issues and making sure there are programs and services to support our communities and beneficiaries of Nunatsiavut.

Click here to find out more about these support programs.

The summer program for seniors began yesterday, July 13th, here in Nain.

We’ve spoke with the Seniors’ Summer Program Coordinator, Keryn Andersen.

She says says that activities will be from 1-3pm, Monday to Friday.

There is no limit for seniors to attend the program and will be taking place at the JS Community Centre.

Yesterday, the seniors had a chance to play some darts and Andersen says it went good.

Here is the schedule for this week:

-Today they’ll be playing Board games
-Tomorrow, July 15th will be a movie day
-Thursday, July 16th will be Seniors’ Merchandise Bingo, and
-Friday, July 17th will be Story telling.

For more information you can contact Keryn Andersen at the JS Community Centre at 922-2691.

Yesterday, Monday, July 13, Newfoundland and Labrador had no new confirmed cases of COVID-19.

The province continues to have one active case.

There is no one in hospital due to the virus.

258 people have recovered.

To date, 20,583 people have been tested.

In Alert Level 2, individuals should continue to practice good infection prevention and control practices.

Daily preventative actions can help to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

For the most up-to-date information related to COVID-19, please visit www.gov.nl.ca/covid-19.

The Nain Inuit Community Government has been aware that there has been damage to the new siding to the Nain Husky Centre and Budgells Equipment.

The Nain Inuit Community Government AngajukKâk Joe Dicker pleads that this vandalism to stop immediately.

The Nain Husky Centre is being repaired to benefit the community and to extend the use of the centre for five years or more.

There also been reports of vandalism to Budgells Equipment with an estimated worth of $6000 damage.

Budgells is the contractor working for projects of the NICG, so any damage will delay projects to the NICG.

Anyone who witnessed this behaviour is asked to contact the Nain ICG by phone at 922-2842, fax number at (709) 922-2295 or email them at nainicg@nf.aibn.com.

The Hopedale Inuit Community Government has started with their summer operations this year.

We spoke with Marjorie Flowers who is the AngajukKâk for Hopedale.

She says they are now opening up their Recreation Department slowly, following the COVID guidelines.

They are asking that anyone wants to do business with the town are asked to call in advance so that they can be ready for anyone who wants to do service.

Click here to hear more from AngajukKâk Flowers.

The Nunatsiavut Government has announced that there have been some changes to the COVID-19 Support Programs and like to advise the Beneficiaries residing within the Labrador Inuit Settlement Area.

Changes have been applied to the Emergency Heat Subsidy program and the Marine Harvesters Support Program.

The Emergency Heat subsidy has been suspended for the month of August and will be re-evaluated in September.

This applies to both home-heating fuel and electricity.

The Marine Harvesters Support Program is being reduced to 25 litres as the weekly fuel allotment.

These changes is in effect immediately.

This year marks the 16th annual Rhubarb Festival in Hopedale.

We spoke with Darlene Winters who is with the Rhubarb committee.

She says it will be held from Wednesday, July 15th-18th.

Starting tomorrow, there will be a Kid’s Day Scavenger Hunt that will take place by the Moravian church at 4pm.

The three age categories will be ages 0-5 years at 4pm, 6-9 year olds at 5pm, and 10 to 12 year olds at 6pm.

Parents or caregivers are asked to accompany their children.

OK Radio will have more of the day to day schedule tomorrow, July 15.

For more details, you can contact Darlene Winters at 933-3331.

The Summer Recreation Program has begun today here in Nain, July 13th, 2020.

We spoke with the Nain ICG Recreation Director, Lisa Ivany.

She says the program is mainly for children ages 5 to 12 years old and is held at the Jeremias Sillitt Community Centre.

20 Children has started today and 15 more will be starting next Monday, July 20th.

There have been a total of 10 students to be hired as instructors.

She says the hours for the program will be from 8:30am-12pm and 1-4pm and there will be no lunch provided to the children.

The program will be until the third week of August.

Ivany says that parents are not permitted to enter the building, the staff will be at the front to pick up the children and there will be hand sanitizers provided as well.

If there are other children that would like to be part of the Summer Recreation Program, you can pay $30 for the whole summer.

If there are more children that would like to attend the program, you can talk to Lisa Ivany by calling 922-2691 or 922-2690.