Klondike MLA Peter Jenkins has paid off $281,000 in Yukon government loans, just in time.

'The money is in the lawyer's hands,' Wayne McLennan, dana Naye Ventures' financial manager, said Tuesday, the deadline for the payment.

The $281,000 owed was paid in full yesterday. dana Naye has been the loan collector on past Yukon government loans handed out to businesses.

Before a court order was handed down last month ordering Jenkins to pay back $281,000 of the $308,000 he owed, he and dana Naye reached an agreement for Jenkins to pay it back within 30 days.

McLennan said there have already been a couple of government loans paid off and there are a number of others where people are making regular payments toward the debt.

Jenkins said late this morning from Dawson the money was placed in a trust account and went through lawyers.

It was left up to the lawyers to decide when to make the payments.

'That's a private business matter,' Jenkins told the Star.

The MLA left the governing Yukon Party to sit as an independent last November.

He argued he left the party because he was unable to move major Dawson issues forward. However, Premier Dennis Fentie said Jenkins would have been removed from cabinet anyway when his business loans were taken to court.

Jenkins indicated this morning he has no interest in returning to the Yukon Party, which he once represented singlehandedly in the legislature.

'Politically, Dawson has been the recipient of sweet nothing,' he said.

Trustee Ray Hayes is finishing up his job this month (see separate story, p. 5). Jenkins said he has no idea what the government will do about finding a new person for the job.

Hayes was appointed as the community's trustee about two years ago when former mayor Glenn Everitt and council were dismissed by Community Services Minister Glenn Hart.

Jenkins noted there's been nothing done by the Yukon Party government to address the issues facing the community, which is in debt by an estimated $5 million.

There's been no maintenance in Dawson, with the exception of emergency needs, said Jenkins, a former mayor of the town.

Though he was very close to the Yukon Party, he said it's not following through on its commitments to Dawson.

As for his plans for the next territorial election, which must be called by November, Jenkins said he's leaving his options open and doing due diligence before making any decision.