Price of waste, public expenditure | Wins the Waste Award after Norway’s most expensive chain of mayors: – It was a good buy

After a fierce battle between the candidates, the mayors took away the waste prize to be adorned by several million crowns.

Last year was the big year for county and municipal mergers. Thus, many mayors went to buy expensive chains to adorn the new municipality.

Mayors spent a total of NOK 3.6 million on new chains of mayors, according to a review by NRK.

It was especially important to politicians when the Vestland County dream came true. Hordaland and Sogn og Fjordane merged, and the whole thing would be celebrated with a new chain of mayors. The end result was the Norwegian price record for a chain of mayors of up to NOK 329,500.

The Waste Award is a collaboration between Nettavisen and the Taxpayers Association. Beforehand, a jury has reviewed the advice for the readers’ cases and, in the end, it is the readers who decide the winner.

Well satisfied

Mathilde Fasting, a member of the Waste Award jury, is very pleased with the award.

– This case shows how small decisions can have big consequences. We sat on the jury and agreed that this was a good candidate, he says.

But the Norwegian record-setter, County Mayor Jon Askeland (Spain), is very happy with the purchase.

– A good buy

– It was a good buy?

– Yes. The chain is 100 percent Norwegian, produced by a designer and silversmith in Norway at the Norwegian salary level. He has contributed to the completion of important professional subjects in the country and in the region. I have already enjoyed using the chain many times, Askeland tells Nettavisen.

– What do you think of having won the Waste Award for this purchase?

– Vestland County continues the legacy of two distinctive counties that existed for more than 200 years. The county’s chain of mayors is designed to last and will represent the county and residents for generations to come, he says.

The mayor believes that there is more value in a proper chain than just price.

“We see that people still need to see that the value of the community over time is more than the price of a commodity, which, of course, has not been bought in China,” he says.

Strings of mayors won the waste award with 33 percent of the vote. In a solid second place with 31 percent of the vote was the dressing room of Haraldrud, where the municipality of Oslo has spent three years and 18 million crowns without building anything.

Third place with 27 percent of the votes went to the mountain lift in Arendal, which galloped in price from 50 million crowns to more than 90 million crowns.