– The recourse case is still being processed by the administration. Therefore, it would not be right for the Ministry of Agriculture and Food to give any further comments on what assessments are made, writes Borch in an e-mail to news. On Friday, Storting representative Geir Jørgensen from Rødt demanded that the money claim against the reindeer owners be waived. – We cannot have it so that they have to pay for the state’s illegal overtime. Here the state has broken the law, and it is not the reindeer owners who have to pay for this, Jørgensen told news. The minister: – Opposed the count The background to the case is a reindeer count of the herd in reindeer herding district 13 – Siskit Čorgaš and Lágesduottar in the winter of 2022. news revealed last week that the state had broken provisions in the Working Environment Act 312 times during this count. The offenses do not prevent the state from demanding that the reindeer owners pay the expenses, believes the State Administrator in Troms and Finnmark. This is called regression. Agriculture and Food Minister Sandra Borch shares this opinion. – Several side shares opposed the count. As a result, a decision was made about a forced count, she writes in the email to news. She points out that the job was costly. – If it had been possible to count district 13 through an ordinary count, the costs would have been much lower. Nor would there have been any recourse claims then. But as there was a forced count, the state has a duty to collect expenses associated with a forced count, writes Borch. Price tag: NOK 14.1 million In September last year, the State Administrator in Troms and Finnmark presented the costs. Since then, the state has worked with the recourse claim. The compulsory count cost NOK 14.1 million, while the ordinary count cost NOK 4.1 million. John Idar Anti was one of six reindeer owners who believed that the count should be stopped. – I was not against the count. It would be completely wrong to portray it as if we were opposed. It was the situation with the grazing crisis that made us think it was not prudent to push the reindeer herd for miles to a reindeer fence, he says to news. For him, the forced counting became an animal welfare crisis. – While the herd was driven by both helicopters and snowmobiles, many animals died. In the fall after the count, I was missing about 75 adult Simles. This is a huge loss that will linger for six to seven years to come, says Anti. LOSS: Reindeer owner John Idar Anti will not pay the claim from the state. Photo: EILIF ASLAKSEN / news He believes that it is now only a question of the state’s spending. – There should have been more talk about the animal welfare consequences of the state’s actions, says Anti. State administrator Elisabeth Aspaker says that she does not know how large the recourse claim will be. – It is very complicated work, and it must be done well and thoroughly, she says to news. She says that assessments are made about which costs are relevant to include. – Very serious Storting representative Geir Jørgensen from Nordland believes the forced counting is one of the biggest scandals in Norwegian reindeer herding of all time. SCANDAL: Storting representative Geir Jørgensen from Nordland. Photo: Mats Rønning / news Agriculture and Food Minister Sandra Borch has the political responsibility for the industry. – There is no doubt that this case is very serious for the reindeer husbandry management, she writes in the e-mail. Here she points out that as soon as she became aware of the case, she called the State Administrator to a meeting where she asked for a full explanation. – At the time, I clearly communicated to the State Administrator that the costs associated with the forced census were unacceptable. I also mean that today, she writes to news. Borch believes responsibility for the count lies with the State Administrator in Troms and Finnmark. – It is the State Trustee’s responsibility to stay within the given budget framework and follow the financial regulations and the Working Environment Act, she writes. State administrator Elisabeth Aspaker has laid low and admitted responsibility for all the mistakes the office made in connection with the count. MISTAKES: State administrator Elisabeth Aspaker in Troms and Finnmark. Photo: EILIF ASLAKSEN / news She has also admitted that the count should have been stopped. – It is our responsibility to ensure that we have the powers we must have to carry out our assignments. So we can’t blame anyone other than ourselves that we haven’t been careful enough about getting things in order, she told news last week.
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The reindeer count: Sandra Borch will demand payment from the reindeer owners – news Sápmi
