Transportation and Works
Labrador and Aboriginal Affairs
February 18, 2010
Additional Satellite Phones Now Available on Trans
Labrador Highway
Motorists travelling
remote sections of the Trans Labrador Highway (TLH) now
have improved access to reliable emergency phone service
thanks to the addition of 25 phones to the Provincial
Government's TLH satellite phone program. With the
addition of these phones, there are now 65 satellite
phones available to motorists travelling remote sections
of the TLH.
"This is great news for
people travelling remote sections of the Trans Labrador
Highway between Labrador West and Happy Valley-Goose Bay
and between Happy Valley-Goose Bay and Southern
Labrador," said Minister Hedderson. "While we had
reallocated some of our previously existing phones as an
immediate measure to ensure some level of service for
people travelling Phase III, we are now pleased to have
25 additional phones in operation to provide for greater
safety and piece of mind for those who choose to avail
of this important service."
The plan to purchase
these phones was announced on December 18, 2009,
immediately following the opening of the TLH, Phase III
to ensure that users of this new section of highway had
access to this important service.
Each phone comes with an
easy-to-follow instruction card for users.
Satellite phones can now
be picked up at the following locations:
- Wabush Hotel in
Wabush;
- Midway Travel Inn in
Churchill Falls;
- Hotel North Two and
Royal Inn and Suites in Happy Valley-Goose Bay;
- Cartwright Hotel in
Cartwright;
- Alexis Hotel in Port
Hope Simpson; and,
- Town Office in
Charlottetown.
The phones are available
free of charge to motorists travelling remote sections
of the TLH. When borrowing a phone, residents of the
province simply need to provide their driver licence
number and non-residents need to provide a valid credit
card number for tracking and security purposes. When
users are finished with the phones, they can simply drop
them off at the nearest participating location.
"This investment
demonstrates the Provincial Government's continuing
efforts to ensure that people who travel the Trans
Labrador Highway do so safely," said the Honourable John
Hickey, Minister of Labrador Affairs. "An enhanced and
reliable emergency phone service will reassure highway
travellers that they have the necessary means to secure
assistance when it is needed."
As with the phones
currently in service, the new phones will be
pre-programmed to enable calls to be directed to the
Royal Newfoundland Constabulary (RNC) in Labrador City,
which will co-ordinate appropriate emergency response
through either the RNC or Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
- 30 -
Media contacts:
Roger Scaplen
Director of Communications
Department of Transportation and Works
709-729-3015, 697-5267
rogerscaplen@gov.nl.ca |
John
Tompkins
Director of Communications
Department of Labrador and Aboriginal Affairs
709-729-1674, 728-7762
jtompkins@gov.nl.ca |
2010 02 18
10:20 a.m.
|