Reps with Bear Head LNG say they’re no longer working with in-province consultants.
Allan MacMaster, the MLA for Inverness, says that makes him concerned about the future of the project in Point Tupper.
MacMaster tells The Hawk the move doesn’t seem like something a company getting ready to move forward would do.
“I think that the obvious concern would be how committed they (are) to continue to develop the project,” he says. “I would hope that they wouldn’t choose to discontinue having their local presence because a project of this nature, I think it needs a local presence.”
MacMaster says it doesn’t seem like a step toward getting the facility built.
He says officials with the provincial government have spent a lot of money to make the project possible, and they shouldn’t allow company reps to stand by idly.
“If it’s an asset they’re just going to sit on, and not develop for a number of years, that is not really in the interests of our province.”
MacMaster says he believes they’d need more boots on the ground if the project was getting closer to happening.
In an emailed statement, Bear Head LNG reps tell The Hawk they didn’t continue with the local consultants because they have employees in their main Houston office capable of overseeing the project.
They have also applied to members of the Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board for an extension to their permits to construct until Dec. 31, 2022; they say it is just a normal extension process.
