The B.C. government has earmarked another $18.4 million towards the recovery and rebuild of Lytton.
Speaking Monday afternoon, Public Safety Minister, Mike Farnworth, says the province will pay for the “substantial costs” of debris removal, for “culturally important” archeological work, and soil remediation for municipal as well as all uninsured and underinsured properties in Lytton.
Farnworth says work to remove debris from more than 200 properties will get underway Tuesday, Mar. 8, with municipal properties before expanding to residential properties once that work is completed.
“The site was very much a toxic site and so there has to be dealing with the toxic materials that we there,” he said, when asked why it has taken so long to get to this point.
“There had to be a lot of sifting done on a volunteer basis to try and recover what personal artifacts remained for people. At the same time, we were working very closely with the Village of Lytton in terms of their capacity to function.”
Most of the village of Lytton was ravaged by a wildfire nearly nine months ago, on June 30, 2021.
Farnworth says to ensure that the work progresses, the Province is also funding temporary accommodations for as many as 30 staff, consultants and construction workers. He also says this funding will support project management, engineering design work, and security on site.
Last month, the provincial government gave $8.3 million in funding to Lytton to help manage “significant” wildfire response and recovery costs as well as to support core operations for three years without having to worry about generating revenue.
It also gave Lytton a $1-million last December to help restart the local economy while also ensuring that staff who are leading the wildfire recovery can continue to be paid.
The Province expects the Village of Lytton to be ready for the next phase of rebuilding, such as permitting, this fall.