The saga of the defunct AbitibiBowater paper mill in Grand Falls-Windsor (Newfoundland & Labrador) continues to unfold, though it becomes stranger and stranger with each telling.
First it was a response during Question Period in the House of Assembly in May, when an Opposition member asked it was true that members from a German company had toured the shut-down facility.
People wondered who the company was; some even bemoaned the secrecy around the visit and that few people knew who the company was.
Then the story became more curious recently, when the news disclosed that Lott Paper, the company in question, had been declared insolvent in Germany earlier in June.
Motion Invest, the shareholders bankrolling Lott, had said the "deal was off" with the province because confidentially had been broken.
But Natural Resources Minister Kathy Dunderdale said she was told the company was still interested in reviving the mill.
Gerald Thompson, president of the Exploits Regional Chamber of Commerce, said people in the area are confused by what's going on with the mill.
"I guess we don't know the difference between the fact and the fiction at this point," he said. "We don't know enough."
According to the reports of this investment company, said Mr. Thompson, they don't have a good track record in France, Spain, England and Belgium.
"They don't seem to have a good track record at all," he said. "Their involvement in other countries hasn't been great.
"I guess due diligence and caution with anybody like that, I guess we have to side with the government at this point."
However, he added, there is at least one positive about the situation.
"The fact that somebody internationally has noticed this property is a good thing," he said.
"That means there may be other people out there who may see some benefits to our fibre, our hydropower and maybe the facility itself. There's the possible use of the facility and the close proximity to things like the mining industry and the Port of Botwood.
"I don't think they should talk about demolishing it any time soon."
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