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Wednesday, September 15, 1999

Military exceeds budget by tracking migrant ships
$80,000-a-day mission

Keith Fraser
The Province

Halfway into its fiscal year, the military will soon go over budget with its stepped-up patrols for Chinese migrants.

Long-range Aurora aircraft have increased their patrols from two or three times a week to daily.

They are expected to continue the $80,000-a-day missions for another month to six weeks.

The military had budgeted about $6-million for 753 hours of surveillance over the Pacific Ocean in the fiscal year 1999-2000, but now expects to reach that number by month's end -- a full six months before its fiscal year ends on March 31.

Lieutenant-Colonel Fred Bigelow said when the Auroras began tracking the migrant ships in July, they were well within budget. But the increased demand for patrols has changed everything.

"No one anticipated the level of activity we've seen," said Lt.-Col. Bigelow, director of operations for Maritime Air Component Pacific. "We've looked for a reallocation of resources within DND's budget to cover us off."

He added: "We'll just keep flying as long as the threat is there, as long as the problem exists of the migrants."

It costs about $8,000 an hour for the dozen-member crews to go up for a 10-hour patrol covering an area off the coast the size of B.C., Alberta and Saskatchewan put together. Those costs include $1,000 an hour for fuel, maintenance costs and flight pay.




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