Isolates island communities – news Nordland

– The cut proposal sets Nordland back many decades. But the most worrying thing is that it happens without background figures, passenger statistics or other case information bordering on the unjustifiable. That is according to county council representative Lena Hamnes (Ap), who sits on the committee for transport in the county council in Nordland. – I have never come across anything similar. The blue-greens in Nordland want to cut this: The blue-green county council in Nordland proposes to cut all Saturday routes on the Nordland Express, from Svolvær in the north to Sandnessjøen in the south. They also propose to remove the summer route Bodø – Steigen – Hamarøy and that the Nordlandsekspressen should not go to Svolvær and Skrova in the winter. The speedboat route to Træna and Myken on Saturday is proposed to be closed. The speedboat cuts will save the county council around NOK 30 million in total. But then the loss of ticket income is not taken into account, says Lena Hamnes. – It is completely beyond. The county council and the population are being led astray, says Hamnes. Read the response from county councilor for transport, Marianne Dobak Kvensjø (H) further down in the matter. On Thursday, the county politicians in Nordland will decide which routes in the fast boat service will be cut. The cuts will save the county council NOK 30 million. Photo: news Rough seas The county municipalities’ planned cut in the Saturday boat service is creating rough seas on the Helgeland coast. – The cuts mean that many island communities will be without transport between Friday and Sunday. It is dramatic, says Odd Steinar Åfar Viseth in Myken AS. The former county manager for transport in Nordland now runs an accommodation in Myken. – The cuts are unbearable for the local population, business and tourism on the entire Nordland coast, says Odd Steinar Åfar Viseth in Myken AS. Photo: Ole-Christian Olsen / news He doesn’t think much of what his former employer is doing now, and can’t make the math work out. – It’s just a sentence or two about drawing the conclusion. They give no justification or passenger numbers, he says to news. In an article in Avisa Nordland, he has calculated that the total loss of income is greater than the savings from all the cuts on the Nordland Express that the county council proposes to implement in 2024. – I had to calculate this myself, since the administration has not done it, and since the politicians clearly did not request it. REBELLION AGAINST CUTTING: – The cut proposal sets Nordland back many decades, says county council representative Lena Amalie Hamnes, who sits on the committee for transport in the county council in Nordland. Photo: Monica White Martinsen / news No predictability A little further south on the Helgeland coast, NOK 300 million is now being invested in hotels, port facilities and apartments. The project is gigantic in the small island municipality with 450 inhabitants at the far end of the Helgeland coast. Now the manager of the development at Træna is worried. – These cuts come as a real cold shower on us. It’s like closing the E6 one day a week, says Moa Björsson. – The unpredictability of the county council is unacceptable for tourism, says Moa Björnson who is general manager of Træna 365. Photo: Kathrine Sørgård The county council has announced that the speedboat route will be closed on Saturday. – In principle, they say to investors and others who want to bet that there is no predictability here. One can at any time come to remove offers the residents have calculated should be found. I don’t think the county council understands that signal, says Moa. On Tuesday, she met the responsible county councilor at the county council, which is now taking place in Bodø, and was able to present her concern that fewer departures with the fast boat are harming the tourism industry. Myken and Træna are located far out to sea and are obviously dependent on fast boats and ferries. Blame the state County council for transport, Marianne Dobak Kvensjø (H) rejects the criticism and claims that the county council has made good assessments of the budget that has been submitted. – We have reduced the costs, but expect the travelers to transfer to other county transport services, such as ferry or bus. Or that they take a speedboat at another time. Marianne Dobak Kvensjø (H) does not agree that the proposal is presented on a weak basis. Photo: Sofie Retterstøl Olaisen / news – But why haven’t you presented the calculation that shows such a movement? – It is because the income is still maintained. For high-speed boats, the ticket revenue averages 8 percent of the total operation. It is a very small proportion of the income from the fast boats. Kvensjø claims that for many years she has seen Labor boards that have put forward cases where she could have said exactly the same thing. At the same time, she says that she understands that it can be challenging for those who have made plans in the districts. But she puts much of the blame for the cuts on the state: – We get our framework from the state budget in mid-October. After that, we have a few weeks to get our budget in place. When the framework and cost growth are as they are, and we are in the biggest financial crisis in the public sector in 40 years, it is unfortunately the case that we do not have the money to maintain the level we have had in the past. Odd Steinar Åfar Viseth in Myken AS hopes the county council will not get the county council to agree to the decision on Thursday. – Spend a little more time finding wise savings. And not neck-over-the-head savings as we see now. Published 12/12/2024, at 06.18



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