– If it takes one week or two weeks, then we see that we will not be able to meet the deadline, says mayor of Ålesund, Eva Vinje Aurdal to Dagbladet.
On 27 October last year, they submitted an application for a grant of NOK 237 million from the government to cover the costs of dividing Ålesund municipality, and establishing a new Ålesund municipality and Haram municipality.
Three months later, they have not received an answer, nor when they can expect an answer.
– Confidence significantly weakened
– Does not meet the deadline
– The dissolution of Ålesund municipality collapses if you don’t get an answer within a couple of weeks?
– Yes, it does. It will be a great misfortune if we cannot get rid of this work and can start fresh on January 1 next year. It will have major consequences for the motivation of politicians and employees, says Aurdal.
The municipal management originally wanted answers before the new year, so that they could know how much money they had for the budget for next year. Instead, they have had to put the money from the state into the budget – without knowing if it will come.
Last week, Krf’s Tore Johan Øvstebø asked the municipal director what would happen to the dissolution if the municipality did not receive an answer from the ministry by 1 March.
The verdict from the municipality’s administrative manager was clear:
“The director of the municipality is of the opinion that if you don’t get a clarification before 1 March and the process is stopped, you probably won’t be able to reach the target by 1 January 2024,” writes the director of the municipality in his reply.
Works with speech to Norway
– People are desperate
The plan is for elections to be held for the newly created municipalities at the municipal elections in September, and the ministry has set 1 January next year as the date for official division.
Ålesund mayor Eva Vinje Aurdal says that the issue of division is weighing on the politicians and the employees in the municipality.
– People are desperate. It is strange that we do not get an answer about when we can get an answer, she says.
Despite the difficult process, the mayor has no faith that it will end with Haram remaining part of Ålesund.
– That train has left. There is almost no one who has any faith that the resolution did not come to nothing.
Bypassed in mom binder
“It has been clear”
– Now we have to focus on building a strong new Ålesund municipality without Haram, adds Aurdal.
Municipal and District Minister Sigbjørn Gjelsvik (Sp) believes there is no cause for concern, but cannot give an answer as to when Aurdal and the other local politicians can expect a response.
“The government has always been clear that we will cover the necessary, direct sharing costs upon application. This still applies. The ministry will give feedback to the applicants as quickly as possible after the applications have been processed,” writes Gjelsvik in an email to Dagbladet.
