SPEC Headlines, April 11, 2004

Aquamer finally receives support of the new government
Gilles Gagné

    CARLETON - Thirteen months after a first announcement by then Premier
Bernard Landry, owners of Carleton based thalassotherapy centre Aquamer
confirmed on April 5th a $12.7 million expansion that will more than double
its lodging capacity and triple the number of people who come daily for a
cure.
    The first announcement for Aquamer took place on March 6th, 2003. But
the election of the Liberal government and the decision to pull the Société
générale de financement out of tourism initiatives nullified the deal that
would have made of the SGF a shareholder of Aquamer. Owners of the spa
complex had to find a way to replace a $2 million cash injection, despite
the fact that the deal already appeared in SGF's annual report.
    In exchange for a year lost in construction, Aquamer owners were able to
get a $2 million grant, and these conditions compensate for the fact that
"we are a year older", says Yolande Dubois. She and her husband Jules
Corriveau have plans to prepare their succession at the helm of the
company..

New fishing boat delivered by Forillon Shipyard
Gilles Gagné

    The Sandy Beach based Forillon Shipyard will soon deliver a new boat,
the CAPRAL D., to crab fisherman Charles-Aimé Duguay, of Sainte Thérèse,
near Grand River. Sea trials should be held  within a few days and well
before the beginning of the season in the Southern part of the Gulf of Saint
Lawrence.
    Construction started in October. It usually takes six months for the 38
employees of the Gaspé shipyard to complete a boat of that size. In metric
parameters, the CAPRAL D. measures 18.8 meters in length, 6.9 meters in
width and 3.4 meters in depth.
    The 65 foot boat will weigh 150 tonnes when empty but the capacity of
her hold will be 25 tonnes of crab, immersed in 75 tonnes of water, to keep
the shellfish alive. A Caterpillar V-12 engine of 635 horsepower will propel
the boat.

 Town Council Says No to Neighbours  Garbage
Jeanie LeLacheur
Mayor Arthur Drolet announced the towns decision to refuse solid waste from
neighbouring county municipalities during the municipal council meeting held
Monday April 5.  After holding a public information session, frequent
meetings with the engineering firm André Simard and Associates who designed
the sanitary landfill site and carried out and in-depth impact study
concerning an increase in solid waste at the site, and careful consideration
of the populations wishes, the council voted unanimously against the Quebec
Environment ministry¹s request to accept  solid waste from Avignon,
Bonaventure, Haute Gaspesie, and Matane at Gaspé's new sanitary landfill
site. A sigh of relief swept the meeting at the announcement, where many
residents had gathered prepared for battle.  Councilor André Chrétien
expressed his pleasure and warned of the folly of hasty decisions comparing
this  request, to the federal government¹s expropriation of the Gaspé for
Park Forillon.