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More expensive tickets and route cuts have been met with strong protests along the coast.
In Nordland Ferry and Speedboat County, several local communities have had enough. Last on the list is the town of the coastal municipality of Lurøy in Helgeland.
– We are not just statistics and a paragraph. We are a vibrant coastal community that sets its own framework conditions, says Benjamin Slotterøy.
He believes that county changes and budget cuts affect vulnerable islands in particular, like here in Sleneset.
Part of the 110 Protestants.
Photo: Benjamin Slotterøy
Framed the people in protest
Frustration with the changes in speedboat traffic sparked his and his sister Lotte’s creativity.
They are both artists. As a protest against the changes and cuts, they have taken pictures of the neighbors with a homemade protest frame.
– 110 photographs of people who live and work on the island have been published. We wanted to give a face to everyone affected by county savings, Benjamin says.
Benjamin Slotterøy, an artist from Sleneset who started the protest campaign for the frame together with his sister.
Photo: Private
Employees laid off at the pier
They are, first of all, two things that have fired the mind in Luroy.
As of September 1, the dock employees were laid off.
Thus, no one can accommodate the large ships that dock. Neither does the load.
At the same time, the county municipality has decided that the speedboat will no longer dock at the speedboat dock, but rather at the ferry dock.
Slotterøy thinks he is not suitable for that.
– The change has generated great challenges for companies and all the inhabitants of the islands. Especially in bad weather, it is almost impossible for the elderly and disabled to get on board.
- This protest did not go so well:
If you are not present, your package will be sent back to the mainland.
People must ensure that they bring their own goods ashore.
Large goods are hoisted ashore with a crane. But if you don’t have the equipment to haul heavy goods, they will remain standing.
Previously, it was the employees who made sure that the goods were placed under a roof with, for example, a jack-up cart.
But if you are sick, at work or for other reasons you cannot be at the place when the ship arrives, then the products are sent back to where they came from.
Get products from Oslo, not Bodø
Per Asle Pedersen is one of those who has experienced the consequences of the county politicians’ new austerity measure.
He is the CEO of Elektro Helgeland based in Sleneset.
Without an employee, it has become very cumbersome to receive goods. Now we order everything in one shipment from Oslo.
They are equally happy to send their goods by train, trailer and ferry from Oslo. It’s as fast as getting them from Bodø in the same way.
They have stopped shipping goods by speedboat. They do not have the opportunity to be present to receive the merchandise each time the ship arrives.
– We want him as he was before with the clerk and the speedboat at the speedboat dock, says Pedersen.
Per Asle Pedersen, Managing Director of Helgeland Elektro in Sleneset.
Photo: private
Save half a million just on spring replacement
This year alone, the county municipality expects to spend NOK 38 million on docks and scales. This also includes employees.
Acting Transport Chief Tone Øverli writes to NRK that NOK 17 million will be saved by 2023 through various supply cuts. This year 5 million will be saved.
– But why should the speedboat dock at the ferry dock?
– Because the ferry moorings are owned by the county council. Therefore, we save call costs, write in an email to NRK.
Explain that speedboat docks are usually owned by the municipality or by individuals. The Sleneset speedboat dock is privately owned.
Tone Øverli is the acting head of transport for the Nordland County Municipality.
Photo: Andreas Nilsen Trygstad / NRK
In Sleneset alone, the county municipality saves just over half a million a year by using its own dock.
Employees are also at Nesna and Onøy. For the three piers in total, the county saves $ 2 million each year.
Suggest secretary that does not exist
In relation to the shift to the Helgeland pendulum, there has been an extensive round of consultations.
But the relocation of the jetty was not included in the query.
– We interact with the municipalities when we make route changes, he says.
– Does the new scheme offer a good enough shipping offer?
– If someone has trouble picking up the merchandise when the ship arrives, the customer must make an agreement with the clerk or another charterer to pick up the merchandise, he writes.
– But have you fired the employees?
– Then, the recipient of the merchandise must consider if there are local players from whom they can buy a service to transport it home, he responds.
– The locals are concerned that the ship will not be able to dock when the wind and weather improve during the fall. In general, they believe that the ferry dock is not suitable for receiving the speedboat. Do they have cause for concern?
– Normally, a period of habituation is required to make a stop at new piers. The dock has been adapted to accommodate ships much larger than the speedboat, and recently adjustments have been made for the speedboat to call. Therefore, we see no cause for concern.
In Herøy, further south in Helgeland, a video showed how a student from the school had to help the ship to the dock. Also here no one has that job because the county council will save money.
