Destruction in Lytton, June 14, 2022 (Image Credit: CFJC Today)

By Michael Reeve

LYTTON REBUILD

Recovery funding too little, too late for some Lytton business owners

Jun 14, 2022 | 4:38 PM

LYTTON, B.C. — Federal minister Harjit Sajjan was in Lytton Tuesday morning (June 14) to tour the fire-devastated community and announced more than $77-million in new funding to help the village rebuild.

“We’ve just been surviving for the last year; I’m a single parent in a town that’s gone,” said Meghan Fandrich, Klowa Cafe Owner.

Nearly one year after a wildfire ripped through the village of Lytton, residents like Fandrich are still struggling to find normalcy in their lives. While she welcomed Tuesday’s funding announcement, it comes far too late for her to even imagine rebuilding her business.

“If this announcement had come last August, we wouldn’t have business owners working at Superstore in Abbotsford, we wouldn’t have business owners starting up in other places or driving themselves further into debt,” added Fandrich.

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Sajjan toured the village after announcing the funding, the bulk of which is set to help rebuild community spaces in the village. The minister noted $6 million is going toward residential builds and more than $7 million for local businesses.

“Most importantly, the new buildings will be constructed to be fire-resistant and these investments will position Lytton as a leader showing that sustainable, resilient, net-zero buildings are not just the way of the future, it is the way today,” said Sajjan.

Mayor Jan Polderman still hopes to bring residents home by the end of September to begin the first stages of the rebuild, as he looks to the provincial government to step up similarly to the feds.

“With today’s announcement, yeah, I would sure like to see the province match the federal government in their funding. That would be fantastic,” stated Polderman.

Polderman has been negotiating with the insurance bureau in the hopes of getting more support for those who had proper insurance with an answer hopefully coming by the end of this week.

“There still is no long-term plan, and that is what is extremely frustrating as you work on this file. There is no long-term plan to hold them, the provincial government, accountable to,” said Lytton-area MLA Jackie Tegart.

Tegart noted a recent fundraising effort that surpassed their goal to help rebuild the community pool, mentioning it’s time the province put forth a timeline and a goal for Lytton and worked to achieve it.

“At the time of the fire, my insurance was enough, but because of the delays the cost of rebuilding has almost doubled. My policy limit is set as it was on June 30th of last year, so because costs have gone up so much, I won’t be able to afford to rebuild,” concluded Fandrich.