Peggy Nilsen is on the ferry from her home island of Orten to her shop job on Sandøya. – The proposal came as a bombshell. Like a fist in the stomach, she says. FEAR: Peggy Nilsen suddenly became afraid of the future. Photo: Ann Eli Nøsen / news The proposal was to remove five daily car ferries and replace them with a shuttle boat three times a week. Today, the proposal was rejected, but it has opened old wounds. – It would have become both a professional ban and a life ban. You can imagine living in a flat where the door is locked four days a week, says Nilsen. But was this a new signal about the depopulation of the sea gap? – Sorry for the fear – This has caused a great deal of unrest. Such an extreme proposal creates uncertainty and in the long run can actually undermine these small communities, says Molde mayor Torgeir Dahl. He is happy that the transport committee in Møre og Romsdal still has a broad political agreement against the cut proposal. Even though the county council spends NOK 200 million more a year than the state gives in money for ferry operation. FLAG DAY: Several people from the small islands had turned up at the county meeting, and waved flags after the decision. Photo: Josef Benoni Ness Tveit / news County politician Kristin Sørheim (Sp) was also satisfied with the decision. – Was this just a political game to get more kroner from Finance Minister Vedum? – No, it has nothing to do with it. LEADER: Kristin Sørheim (SP) at the meeting of the transport committee of which she is the leader. Photo: Josef Benoni Ness Tveit / news – What are your thoughts on all the fear this has created for those who live on the islands? – I’m sorry to cool it. But I think the islanders can now be very safe. Today I saw that no party is looking to depopulate the local communities on the islands by shutting down their ferries. – Traumatic abuse – I clearly see parallels to when the fishing villages along the coast were depopulated by the government around 1970, says conservator Terje Thingvold. He has written a doctoral thesis about when 270 people had to move from Bjørnsund in Romsdal. TRAUMATIC: Terje Thingvold has interviewed many of the 270 people who moved from the fishing village of Bjørnsund. Photo: Øyvind Berge Sæbjørnsen / news – A city where people had lived for 700 years was suddenly shut down. It was traumatic and felt to many as an assault by the authorities. Similar depopulation occurred, for example, in Nyksund in Vesterålen and Hamningberg in Finnmark. – This is similar. The people living there are doomed to die if they don’t have transport. They will die if society at large does not want such places, says Thingvold. BLUE TUESDAY: The atmosphere was not as it usually is at the knitting cafe on Ona, after the news that the island might lose the ferry. Photo: Ann Eli Nøsen / news Road stretch of 1.5 kilometers Peggy Nilsen says that they tried to depopulate her island fifty years ago. Then her grandfather clawed his way there and there were only a few family members left in Orten. – Now I felt that society was on our side. But then suddenly they turn around and say that they may not be able to afford us, says Nilsen. She points out that centralization is not always a good thing. That you cannot produce food and build boats in the city centre. At Orten, they have two farms, a welding workshop, carpentry – and a 1.5 kilometer stretch of road. – But do they need a car ferry? Can’t goods be shipped by fast boat? – It must be a reasonably large boat that will bring a lorry with material. People have to live, build and refurbish their houses, and work here. Society today is designed for cars. PLANK DRIVING: It’s nice to take a car ferry when you need to transport planks to Ona. Photo: Ann Eli Nøsen / news – The signal is devastating Farmer Arve Linningsvoll also says he depends on the ferry. Among other things, he transports grass for his cows from neighboring islands. GRASS: To run cows here, you need grass from islands like Gossen. Photo: Arve Linningsvoll He would have closed the business if the decision had gone through. Sailor Terje Pedersen thinks the worst thing is the signals that are sent to the districts. RASANDE: Terje Pedersen was in awe of the proposal from the county council. Photo: Ann Eli Nøsen / news – Think about those who are going to start something and the people who live here. These signals are completely destructive. The matter will finally come before the County Committee and the County Council in June, but with broad political agreement there is no reason to believe that the result will be anything other than continued ferry operations.
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Do not shut down the ferry to the islands of Ona, Orten, Sandøya, but the inhabitants are safe – news Møre og Romsdal – Local news, TV and radio
