Masi, Mr. Speaker. [Translation] I'd like to speak on the winter road and all-round access road. They signed the agreement last year; that was February 14th, that they signed this agreement with the GNWT and the Tlicho government, and also the company that is going to do the work. It started last fall. I want to make a statement on that. [Translation ends]
Mr. Speaker, on February 14, 2019, on Valentine's Day last year this week, the NWT government signed an agreement with the Tlicho government and a project company for the construction of a 97-kilometre road that will connect Whati to Highway No. 3. The construction costs for the road are expected to reach $213.8 million, while the overall P3 contract to design, build, finance, operate, and maintain it will cost $411.8 million over a 25-year period.
To date, there are 137 workers on site, and there are 49 Tlicho citizens working there. Out of these, five were hired as heavy equipment operators, two as mechanics, 23 in the general labour area, and 18 as truck drivers. There are also 18 northern workers from the Yellowknife community and, get this, Mr. Speaker, 70 non-NWT workers at site. That's 51 percent of 137 workers being non-NWT, from the South.
Mr. Speaker, the construction site is located in the heart of the Wek'eezhii Boundary and Monfwi Gogha De Niitlee Boundary. By rights, the contractual agreement should directly benefit the local Behchoko and Tlicho communities, as opposed to a southern firm and southern, non-NWT workers. As my former colleague would put it, it's a crying shame to allow outsiders to take all the benefits. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.