– It was very good to be confirmed. I have had faith, but you never know, says Terje-Riis Johansen to news. Almost a year and a half has passed since Vestfold and Telemark went their separate ways, when the county council decided to split up. But it costs. Around NOK 800 million would cost all the county divisions in Norway, Dagbladet wrote last year. Several were critical of spending so much money on the split. – This is not forward-looking. The money will not benefit either children, young people, the elderly or the sick, said parliamentary representative for the Conservative Party, Mahmoud Farahmand. In Vestfold and Telemark, they ended up applying for financial support of NOK 150 million. The municipal minister thinks they should get it, he writes in a letter to Riis Johansen. The money will be used for: Costs when the county is to be split Swipe to see some of the costs that will come when Vestfold and Telemark are to be split. The figure is taken from the application the county council must send to the ministry. Adaptation of necessary ICT systems: NOK 66.3 million Vestfold and Telemark county council estimates that it will cost over NOK 66 million to put in place new information and technology communication when the county is split. Building and property signage: NOK 10.9 million The county council needs almost NOK 11 million for new signs. Around 6 million to sign buildings, and almost 5 million to sign roads, traffic information and buses. Graphic rebranding: NOK 2.8 million New graphic solutions for the new county municipalities are expected to cost almost NOK 3 million. Information to residents and employees: NOK 1.4 million Information to own employees can cost over NOK 1.1 million. In addition, the county council expects to spend NOK 300,000 on information for its own residents. In total, over NOK 1.4 million has been set aside. Believing in cheap divorce Riis Johansen promises that they will spend as little as possible of taxpayers’ money on the division. Everyone would know the consequences of not having received the money, he believes. – The money goes into normal operations. There will be asphalt, county roads and teaching in schools. And if we hadn’t received the money, it would have been less, says Riis-Johansen. He singles out large expenses for new IT systems and working hours as the most expensive part of splitting up. – It is a large number, but compared to many other processes, we have been quite sober in Vestfold and Telemark. – Are you sure this is enough? – My gut feeling is that we should avoid the big surprises, but I have no guarantees for that, so far. Public opinion has turned: It is wrong to split up counties
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Gets 150 million to split the counties – news Vestfold and Telemark – Local news, TV and radio
