The mayor of a Mackenzie Delta town flooded in the spring is frustrated with delays in getting territorial money to help repair damage caused by the high water.

Aklavik Mayor Knute Hansen says he's fed up having to drive slowly through the town to avoid all the kitchen-sink-sized potholes in the roads.  

Many roads were flooded in the Mackenzie Delta community of Aklavik in May.

 Aklavik was evacuated for about a week in late May, and infrastructure damaged after the Peel River Channel overflowed its banks, swamping the low-lying town under several feet of water.

Repairs have been progressing slowly since the waters receded.

 As a temporary solution to road damage, hamlet staff put gravel on the worst spots, but Hansen says more work is needed.

Aklavik, N.W.T.

"What we're doing now is just like a Band-Aid approach. Y'know they're going to have to be fixed up much better than they are now."

 Hansen was counting on the money from the territory's disaster assistance policy so the hamlet can start repairing roads and sewer systems before winter.

 But the money hasn't been delivered to the community, and the territorial cabinet hasn't even met to approve Aklavik's disaster assistance request.

Government officials admit the process is slow, but say changes are in the works.

"So there's a couple things we'd like to change," said Debbie DeLancey, deputy minister of municipal and community affairs. "First of all, some of the amounts for financial compensation could be out of date. Also, it lays out a fairly bureaucratic process for dealing with compensation claims."

 Despite their intentions to speed up the process, DeLancey says it could be several months before Hansen and other drivers in Aklavik will see the road repairs the community needs.