The state administrator in Troms and Finnmark has over several years taken up the situation in the reindeer husbandry department with the Ministry of Agriculture and Food (LMD). – We have also sent in several risk assessments which show that there is a crisis in the department, states administrator Elisabeth Aspaker to news. The situation in the department became even more difficult in the winter of 2022. An extensive grazing crisis arose in the county at the same time as a large reindeer count was planned. CRISIS: State administrator Elisabeth Aspaker in Troms and Finnmark. Photo: EILIF ASLAKSEN / news Worked around the clock and broke the law 312 times Many of the employees worked between 13 and 24 hours a day for many weeks straight in connection with the count. The State Trustee’s own investigation concluded, among other things: – Our internal investigation has uncovered serious violations of the law which may result in the employer being held criminally liable. 15 employees broke the working time regulations in the Working Environment Act 312 times. Concerned for a long time After all the offenses were uncovered, a separate group was set up in the Ministry of Local Government and District Affairs. The group investigated what went wrong in connection with the count. It also referred to the grazing crisis: “The reindeer husbandry department thus got two large parallel projects, and challenges with having enough people on both projects.” The group had conversations with employees in the department: “Everyone we spoke to said that there has been a concern about the resource situation in the reindeer husbandry department for a long time, and that it has been raised with superior authorities a number of times.” “On 13 January at the latest, it was clearly stated to Ldir that it would be very demanding to carry out the count.” “All of them also said that internally they felt a lot of pressure to get things done during the entire planning and implementation phase.” Suffering from sickness absence On 31 October 2022, seven months after the compulsory count of animals was finished, an employee in the reindeer husbandry department sent a notification. “Over the years, the department has had high levels of sickness absence,” the whistleblower wrote. The person also stated that sick leave was between 11 and 19 per cent after the count. At the same time, sickness absence in Norway was 6.7 per cent. The state administrator confirms that the department has struggled with sickness absence. – Of course, the absence also contributes to the fact that we do not have full capacity when we would like to, says Elisabeth Aspaker. She says that the department has ended up putting tasks away because there has been a lack of resources. At the same time, they have been working on efficiencies, including with digital tools. Representative Aase Berg in YS, who represents several of the employees in the reindeer husbandry department, says that the situation has been challenging ever since 2014 when responsibility for reindeer husbandry was transferred to the County Governor. – Initially, there were already far too few resources. So the department has struggled with it since they came to us, she says to news. She believes that LMD has a responsibility to solve the resource situation in the reindeer husbandry department. The Ministry: – Has been demanding Ministerial Councilor Anne Marie Glosli in LMD states that LMD has a close dialogue with the State Administrator on how they handle the situation. – It has been demanding over time, she writes in an e-mail to news. DEMANDING: Anne Marie Glosli is a ministerial adviser in the Ministry of Agriculture and Food. Photo: Ministry of Agriculture and Food news has also asked LMD if they pushed for the census to be carried out in winter 2022, even though the ministry was aware of the staffing situation. The minister has not answered this question. Anne Marie Glosli states that a number of measures have been put in place to reduce the workload in the reindeer husbandry department. – Other state administrative offices have for a period taken over responsibility for handling cases in several areas. Some tasks have been transferred to LMD on a permanent basis and the directorate has also leased expertise to the state administrator, writes Glosli. 80 percent of reindeer herding in Norway is carried out in Troms and Finnmark. – We believe that we do not have the resources to match that, says state administrator Elisabeth Aspaker to news.
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Alerted of a crisis in the department that counts reindeer in Finnmark – news Sápmi
