HAPPY VALLEY-GOOSE BAY, Nfld. — Drivers on the Trans Labrador Highway between Labrador West and Happy Valley-Goose Bay can now take a satellite phone with them on the trip.

Works, Services and Transportation Minister, Jim Walsh, in conjunction with the Labrador City-Wabush Rotary Club, launched the six month pilot project in Labrador City yesterday.

“I commend the Rotary Club for proposing this idea and I am thrilled to be here with them launching this initiative on behalf of the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador,” said Walsh. “People in Labrador have expressed concerns about the lack of communication along the highway and we are hopeful the presence of the phones will help alleviate some of those concerns.”

Sixty satellite phones will be available to highway users at the following locations: Two Seasons Hotel, Labrador City; Carol Inn, Labrador City; Wabush Hotel, Wabush; Churchill Falls Inn, Churchill Falls; Aurora Hotel, Happy Valley-Goose Bay.

Phones will be available for pick-up/drop off at these locations on a 24 hour/7 days per week basis. Phones can be signed out for a period of time not to exceed 24 hours. Users will not be charged a rental fee for the loan of the phone, providing the phone is returned to one of the approved drop-off points within 24 hours of the phone being signed out. Users who fail to return the phone within the required time period will have the total cost of the phone ($875) charged to their credit card. Users will not be charged for the cost of calls made to the listed emergency number.