'At least we tried'

Norman Bay's George Roberts is fed up with the neglect from the provincial and federal governments.

So fed up, in fact, he wrote a letter to Barack Obama - the President of the United States of America - to plea for help in building a road between the isolated community, inhabited by 52 people, and nearby Charlottetown, approximately 30 km away.

"I hope the letter will gets to (President Obama), I hope we get an answer one way or another. Might be nothing comes out of it, but at least we tried. We're stuck here."

Mr. Roberts mailed the letter early last week to Washington, D.C. in hopes of hearing a response early next month.

In his letter, Mr. Roberts outlines Norman Bay before delving straight to the heart of its plight.

"We have to travel to Charlottetown either by open speedboat or snowmobile for all our important basic needs such as medical care, food, gasoline, Airport and postal service," the letter reads.

"We had the idea for years, we're not getting any help from our own country," he said.

"I don't know. He's in Canada today (Feb. 19). We're going to try, see what he says."

But Mr. Roberts isn't going to stop there.

"And we're writing to other countries...Russia too. Canada won't help us fund a road," he said. "We're just going to try it, to see what they think of it. There's no harm to try."

If no word comes back from President Obama's office, Mr. Roberts said he's planning to write Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

"After going to the federal government, after going to the provincial government, if we don't here from Barack Obama we're going to write to Putin."

Mr. Roberts said he's exhausted all possible avenues, having sent letters to Labrador MP Todd Russell and Labrador Affairs Minister John Hickey, among other politicians within the federal government.

He's had 16 years of that.

"Our country Canada won't help us build a road into Charlottetown," Ms. Roberts said. "(The federal government) will give money to the provincial government for roads or infrastructure and it's up to the province how they spend it."

He projects a $200,000 cost to the road, which is six km longer than the existing road connecting Pinsent's Arm.

"Tried provincial, they won't look at it, and the federal won't look at it. We're all taxpayers in Newfoundland and Labrador and we pay as much tax as anybody," he said.