Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre’s plan for cleaner fjords is praised. But also fierce criticism, because he leaves the bill to consumers.
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– Støre sends a new huge bill straight to the households. This will sting in people’s wallets, warns the leader of the Homeowners, Morten Andreas Meyer.
– It is municipal water and sewerage fees that will finance much of this. This means that it is the citizens who have to pay, says Helge Eide, director of Society, Welfare and Democracy in the municipalities’ organization, KS.
– The result of such an uncoordinated plan is a dead fjord, says the Green Party, Rasmus Hansson.
– Some have done far too little
The background for their statements is the interview Støre did with VG June 8where he told how to save the world’s sea and the Oslo Fjord.
Støre will make strong demands on the municipalities, especially in connection with the two major sources of pollution: sewage and sewage and nitrogen runoff from agriculture.
Støre made it clear that it is the municipalities and the inhabitants who must take the bill.
– Some municipalities have taken the lead and taken the cost of cleaning up, some have done far too little, he said.
Meyer does not like that it is the consumers who are left with the bill.
– The bills for water and sewage go straight to the households. This is because water and sewerage services are 100 percent user-financed. It does not cost a penny in the municipal budget, but makes a big dent in the wallets of ordinary people, says Meyer.
SINTEF estimated last year that the municipalities must invest gigantic 332 billion in the water and sewage network for the next twenty years.
Here you can read about the growth in your municipality
Meyer says that the work has started and that the municipal fees are growing at record speed. It is especially within water and sewage that households will receive sharp price increases in the years ahead. Even before measures to save the Oslo Fjord are implemented, the fees for sewerage services in many of these municipalities will increase by between 10 and 50 percent from 2021 to 2022.
Here you can read about the percentage tax increases in your municipality.
–Rasmus Hansson says that Minister of Climate and Environment Barth Eide has also stated that he has no plans to assist the municipalities in financing the nitrogen purification in the Oslo Fjord.
– The government’s proposal for stricter requirements for nitrogen purification is a disclaimer of dimensions where the government pushes the problem and the bill onto the municipalities and individuals, he says.
– Bad news for future generations
On Tuesday last week, the Storting considered the MDGs’ proposal for a comprehensive plan for nitrogen purification. The parliamentary majority and the government voted down the proposal.
– It is not only bad for the marine environment and the fish, but also for people and future generations who want to enjoy life in and along the fjord, Hansson says.
–He says it is out in the Oslo Fjord that agricultural pollution is greatest.
– Within Drøbak, there are three large and modern treatment plants that started with nitrogen purification in the 1990s and 2000s, located at Bekkelaget, Slemmestad and Follo.
– South of Drøbak, on the other hand, almost none of the more than 400 treatment plants purify the nitrogen. This means that the nitrogen in any case seeps into the fjord.
Hansson points out that not all environmental impact of the fjord can be fixed by the municipalities:
– For example, they do not decide on fishing, boats and runoff from rivers.
– The homeowners-Meyer agree that the Oslo Fjord and other areas must be climate-saved.
–He says a major problem is that the municipalities are not able to cooperate on smart solutions in the water and sewage area.
– This makes the services far more expensive than necessary. One example is Fredrikstad and Sarpsborg, which have long been arguing about a possible joint sewage treatment plant. But they do not agree.
Meyer believes that these are the conflicts that the State and Støre must ensure are landed.
– The state must demand that all municipalities around the Oslo Fjord cooperate on the best technical solutions.
– For the benefit of the inhabitants
Eide in KS says that in any case there are people who have to pay.
– It is in the citizens’ best interests that it is cleaned up and that we all have to contribute. This is done either in the form of central tax or municipal water and sewerage fees.
He says that Støre may well think that it is the inhabitants of the municipalities who should take the bill, but there is practice that such financial boost in the municipalities can get a little extra traction from the state.
–– If the societal challenge is large enough, the State can contribute with incentives to make things happen faster. This happened, among other things, in connection with round-the-clock nursing and care places in the municipalities. The government should also consider this in this case.
He says this does not only apply to the Oslo Fjord.
– There is a heated discussion about these challenges also elsewhere, including in Ålesund.
Requests national measures
He adds:
– The challenges of increasing the maintenance rate for water and sewage are a national challenge throughout the country. Then national measures should be relevant to support the independent responsibility that the municipalities have in any case to solve this challenge.
The Prime Minister’s Office refers to the Ministry of Local Government and District Affairs to comment on this matter, but has not yet had the capacity.
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