There is little sign that the Ringeriksbanen – and the road – will be realized anytime soon. Secretary of State Tom Kalsås (Ap) announced in the Ministry of Transport that the government has allocated 14 billion for the construction of roads. There’s just one problem: the money isn’t there.
– It is a scandal, said the deputy mayor Stian Bakken (Sp) in the town of Ringerike to Nettavisen.
Deputy Mayor Bakken points out that public waste and broken promises are debilitating.
– Two billion were used to design this. The city has spent three billion to make the project possible.
also read
SV lashes out at the government: – Totally shaken
Remove 900 million for trains
The reason for this, among other things, can be found in the budget agreement between SV and Ap. In 2021, Erna Solberg’s government will hand over responsibility for what were intended to be railway tracks and a four-lane highway to the state company Ny Veier. It appears from one press release from the aforementioned company. Until then, the train division had been with Bane Nor.
But then there was a change of government, Ap and Sp came to power, and a new plan is being put on the table: The project is going to be separated. The train part of the project will then be delivered back to Bane Nor.
In a budget settlement in 2021 between SV and Ap NOK 900 million will be taken out of Nye veier. This is clear from the budget documents. By then, the project had been completed for a year, according to one presentation made by Nye veier.
This was money designated for the joint project – which includes the railway, confirms Nye veier.
– The 900 million was linked to the joint project, ie both road and rail. But the operating credit (of 900 million, editor’s note) he believed that the project would go to construction, and it did not, says the director of communications Christian Altmann in Nye veier to Nettavisen.
Read also: However, the project is estimated to cost NOK 33.9 billion
– You have to clean the stuff
Storting representative Mona Fagerås in SV tells Nettavisen that they have been working for several years for Ringeriksbanen and got this through in the budget negotiations.
Fagerås says that these funds are budget-technical issues to which the ministry must respond. If SV is deceived in the budget negotiations, Fagerås will not say anything about it.
“Now the Storting will deal with the NTP in the spring, and it will be adopted on 12 June. I expect the government to clean up the mess they created by splitting the project and just building the highway despite our agreement that this should be a joint project”, he wrote Fagerås in SMS to Nettavisen.
Secretary of State Tom Kalsås (Ap) in the Ministry of Transport tells Nettavisen that this amount has no effect on the work of the joint project from the new NTP. But it confirms that the amount planned for the joint project was a bad reputation.
– They have been deceived before
Deputy mayor Stian Bakken in the city of Ringerike is not impressed. He told Nettavisen recently that he is not motivated to work for Sp until the election campaign. The government’s handling of the Ringeriksbanen was one of the reasons for that.
– It’s a shame that SV can’t keep up and doesn’t keep up. They’ve been fooled before and you’d think they’d learn.
Bakken refers to the famous political horse trading with tunnels and trains since 1992. The transport minister at the time, Kjell Opseth (Ap) wanted to build the Lærdal tunnel in his home county. To achieve this, he asked for the support of SV, who were then promised that they would get the Ringeriksbanen back. So that promise was not fulfilled 32 years later.
– SV was supposed to be a saving angel and then they didn’t realize that 900 million have gone out of the project. It’s wonderful, says Bakken.
– I had higher expectations of SV and that they brought in at least large sums that are especially marked when you sit in the Storting.
– The road is coming
State Secretary Tom Kalsås (Ap) told Nettavisen recently that the government would prioritize 14 billion to build the highway at least. Nettavisen asked Nye veier if money had been allocated.
– No, not because we don’t know when we are building and what plan we are going to build according to, says communications director Altmann in Nye veier.
The money for the project comes from the annual grant.
– In addition, partial fee financing is accepted. With this move, the government believes that it is likely that the project can start already in the first six years, as long as the management issues are clarified, says the secretary of state.
2024-05-04 17:31:37
#deceived #Crack
