The minister of transportation says there’s only so much his government can do for brush cutting as it’s still early in the season for contractors to do the work.

Barry Petten was responding after the Town of Aquaforte called the brush cutting on the Southern Shore Highway “negligent,” saying the danger of a moose-vehicle collision is well known.

Two people were killed in the community Monday evening, after a moose-motorcycle crash.

Barry Petten says there are only two or three companies bidding for brush-cutting contracts across the province.

“It’s not an easy one to nail down, (but) that area needs brush cutting,” he told VOCM News.

“We’ll obviously do our best to get it done. It’s one of those things. There is 10,000 kilometers of road in the province, and that’s a lot of road to maintain for brush cutting, let alone paving for it. Brush cutting  and moose fencing right now are road safety issues that are probably the top two concerns with the moose population increasing every year.”