SP leader Trygve Slagsvold Vedum jumps in chair on the price of a new government quarter – NRK

A new external quality assurance estimates that the price tag for the new government quarter in Oslo could be as high as NOK 36.5 billion, writes Aftenposten.

That sum makes more people get on the chair.

– It is insane to spend 36 billion crowns on a new office space in the center of Oslo, when we see the enormous needs we have across the country. It’s a waste of public money, says SP leader Trygve Slagsvold Vedum.

The Center Party and SV want the government to leave the ministries in the buildings they are in today.

Former Oil and Energy minister and now FRP parliamentary representative, Kjell-Børge Freiberg, from Hadsel in Vesterålen, is also critical.

– We are concerned about using taxpayers’ money in a good way. So it does not spend 36 billion crowns on building offices within Ring 3 in Oslo.

– Completely outdated

The new government quarter is one of the largest construction projects ever completed in Norway. When completed in about ten years, the buildings will house some 4,700 bureaucrats, right in the heart of Oslo.

– I understand that there must be people and offices in the neighborhood, but building a new monument to 36 billion crowns is irrelevant, adds Freiberg.

It is difficult to build large buildings, especially office buildings, where security is important.

External quality assurance states that the size, duration, and complexity of the project contribute to great uncertainty.

The project is probably more demanding than any other project Statsbygg has carried out before, states the report, which concludes that total costs will be between NOK 26.1 and 36.5 billion. The main estimate is a price of NOK 31.3 billion.

Vedum says that next week he will challenge Local Government Minister Nikolai Astrup at the Storting.

– Now the government must say high, we must reduce costs. Astrup and Erna Solberg cannot defend such spending.

Vedum believes that the government must be dispersed across Oslo to scale back the project. If the government does not listen, the SP leader aims to win the majority in the Storting.

– What will be an acceptable price?

– It must drop sharply. This is almost impossible to defend in a popular government.

NRK interviews Vedum in front of the Bodø city hall.

Here, the county council has ended a planned development of the NOK 200-300 million town hall.

Money is highly prioritized for the new upper secondary schools in Mosjøen and Narvik.

– There is extreme prosperity and a honey pot around the government, but when you come to Bodø, you have to say no to a 200-300 million development in order to allow you to build new schools.

It also draws parallels with the northern Norwegian line.

– In northern Norway, the northern Norwegian line is being discussed. So we are talking about the same kind of size quantity. But therefore it is considered completely absurd.

– Not everything should be in Oslo

Kjell-Børge Freiberg believes that one must ask how many people are needed in the state administration to run the country.

He also wonders whether the entire state administration should be located in Oslo.

– If premises are missing, then we have premises in the north that are empty. We are fully capable of building new premises in the north, if the need arises.

Reject the estimated price

The Minister of Local Government and Modernization, Nikolai Astrup, rejects that a new quarter of government will cost NOK 36 billion.

It estimates a price between 26.1 and 36.5 billion crowns. But then it is much more than a quarter of the government included in the sum.

Among other things, safe technical infrastructure, reconstruction of ring 1, July 22 22. Location of downtown July. In addition, moving and renovation expenses of rented premises.

But it will be expensive, admits the minister.

You can understand that people in rural areas, who have to endure difficult priorities, believe that the state must also show restraint in the use of money when it comes to developments.

But it is necessary, according to Astrup. The reason is the terrorist incident of 2011.

– The main reason why it becomes expensive is that security must be improved so that we can avoid similar incidents. Furthermore, the soil conditions are such that the masses must be treated as special waste.

Astrup emphasizes that the project price has already been reduced through a reduction in area per employee and that support functions have been moved out of the quarter.