Toothless recipe for growth in Finnmark

Finnmark was given a lot of attention in NRK's ​​ »weekend morning » last Sunday. The right was also confronted with how they want to save Finnmark; Build a border fence along the national border between Norway and Russia, ie a 197.7 kilometer long border fence.

How this will save Finnmark in the new geopolitical situation that has arisen is a mystery, which neither group leader Raymond Robertsen nor anyone else in the Right has managed to give a good answer to.

The proposal was almost laughtered by others in the program that commented on the case, including Guro Brandshaug from Kirkenes who lives close to the border with Russia.

100,000 inhabitants

At the same time, county mayor Hans-Jakob Bønå claims that he and the Right have the solution to Finnmark's challenges. The solution is to give everyone in Finnmark a reduced general income tax from 18 to 16 per cent.

-I have a hairy goal, and there are 100,000 inhabitants in Finnmark by 2050. You can laugh at that, but for me it is serious, it was called in the Christmas greeting from county mayor Hans-Jacob Bønå.

Unfortunately the county mayor; This is actually laughing at. First and foremost because it is a reality. We are facing a dramatic negative development where children are almost not born in many of the Finnmark municipalities.

The latest figures from Statistics Norway show that in several Finnmark municipalities, the birth rates are so low that the municipality will not be able to fill one first class when the children start school. In fact, it is not just a tragicomic mouthpiece that the New Year's child in some municipalities first comes to St. Hans. In six years, several municipalities will only have four to six first graders in the classroom.

The oil to land

One of those who has given the authorities a credible prescription for how developments in Finnmark will go from crisis to growth and development is Alta's former councilor Bjørn-Atle Hansen.

He has said that Finnmark's leading political party, Ap and Right, close their eyes. At an input conference three years back, with newly appointed municipal minister Sigbjørn Gjeldsvik (Sp), Hansen stated the following.

– In Finnmark, politicians accept that the oil is not going to land and that we should remain a raw material supplier. It is the recipe to reduce the population.

The input was in agreement from the participants, who represented different municipalities, institutions and organizations: We have the resources, but lack heads and hands.

Not a drop is going up …

Ex-councilor Hansen was raised in Honningsvåg and admitted strong roots to the Northern Cape. The municipality that was to become the new gas and oil municipality when the then Statoil promised gold and green forests, and not least that the oil from the Johan Castberg field should be landed at Veidnes.

Here, the oil should provide new speed in the economy, ensure population growth for both the North Cape and Finnmark. However, the cheer and the champagne ball in the spring stone at Veidnes quieted when Statoil turned, and said the company did not have the finances to land the oil. Instead, it becomes buoyed and sent south.

There is a high activity in the north. The challenges are that the oil is bending and sent south, without neither county mayor nor any other politicians protest.

They should listen to Bjørn-Atle.

In the AP has a completely forgotten the promise of the 2000s that « Not a drop of oil should be raised if it is not landed and produces ripple effects ». Goliath and Johan Castberg were the start, during 2025, Wisting probably follows, which today's government has said will be buoyed when it is expanded.

Everything is about the young

The activity is high in the north, based on the fact that we have the raw material. At the same time, there is zero build -up of « institutions », which provides lasting jobs with different degrees of expertise. Thus, attractive jobs that make youth from Finnmark choose to stay, and that we get permanent jobs that draw competence north.

To build population, we are completely dependent on imports, and then on youth of productive age. Low tax can certainly mean more pensioners, but the measures must be targeted to those who can fill schools and kindergartens.

Free kindergarten from Ap and Sp is of course a step, but we must primarily provide a growth and activity that lasts. When people move to Finnmark after attractive jobs, we must ensure that those who come in the county with their families.

This is probably the only solution to fill future 1 classes around Finnmark.

Ripple effect; sausage with bread

Right and Ap have been responsible for the developing country treatment by Finnmark. Together, they have rejected demands for landing the oil and the construction of institutions that have local and regional effects.

Even the oil town of Hammerfest loses residents. The reports from the oil town are that the new activity associated with Melkøya does not provide established business and revenue.

Instead of the use of local hotel and accommodation companies, Equinor was pushed through a barracks rig to secure this part of the activity.

Investigations of what the billions invested have been made of local ripple effects. These investigations show that only 36 million remain in local business.

High activity provides a few more taxi trips and buying sausage with bread at the local kiosk. It's depressing. The analyzes show that there will only be promiles left of the investments in promised local ripple effects.

Ranes for the resources

Had the Right and the Labor Party's colonial policy to Finnmark just limited to gas and oil activity, the county would hardly have been in today's crisis situation. However, the effect becomes total when the developing country policy also applies to the fishing resource.

The Finnmarks must see that we are losers in quota distribution, that the duty of delivery is not worth the paper on which it is written, and that the coast due to negotiable quotas is increasingly accessing the fish outside Finnmark. It is done at the same time as the Minister of Fisheries is called Marianne Sivertsen Næs and is the government's Finnmark Salibi.

Former Minister of Fisheries Svein Ludviksen (H) made with a pen stroke the adopted duty of delivery into the obligation to offer the duty of supply on the duty of delivery. Ap and today's Minister of Fisheries have no plans to reintroduce the duty of delivery, which could give the coast of Finnmark new hope.

The Storting can turn the Melkøya decision

To top it all, the Right and Ap have given the green light for Equinor to rob Finnmark for the power resource to electrify Melkøya. Equinor will use 400 MW, or 3.6 TWh, to electrify Melkøya and have been reserved.

At the same time, Landstrøm for green cruise port in Alta gets no to 20 MW, because Melkøya has been reserved all available power.

The electrification of Melkøya requires as much electricity as ordinary consumers and business in Finnmark today uses, or equivalent to the production of five altar power plants (0.7 TWh). In the bottom line at Equinor, it will mean billions in plus in the form of, among other things, released gas that can be sold in the European market, and that Equinor does not have to pay ever-increasing CO-2 taxes.

According to the Right and political leadership in the county council, the gain for Finnmark is that East Finnmark will receive investments in new wind farms, and new activity as a result of the power lift, which will provide new power similar to what goes to the electrification of Melkøya.

The fact that it means carpeting with wind turbines and roads in large nature and pasture area is the price Finnmark's leading politicians believe is necessary for people to live in the north as well.

Finnmark needs strong voices to turn the colonial policy, which has historically prevailed, and which we unfortunately see no signs of being discontinued. Proposals for Finnmark tax are only camouflage in order to continue to tap Finnmark for raw material.

There is a need for change, and a first step in the right direction can come in the Storting if there is a majority to stop electrification of Melkøya with shore power, and replace the shore current with fully cleaned current from gas power plants with carbon capture and storage.

We get the answer on May 6 when the Storting in plenary will vote on whether to stop the electrification of Melkøya. Right and Ap are also fighting this time against Finnmark, and 72 percent of Finnmarkings, who according to measurements say a clear no to the electrification.