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City Councilor Raymond Johansen (Labor Party) is upset that the government and the FRP rejected Oslo’s “emergency call” for additional support for companies that are severely affected by local infection control measures.
But the city council probably has no intention of opening up to alcohol service in pubs and restaurants before Christmas. But Raymond Johansen supports the proposal of the National Institute of Public Health (FHI) to extend the opening hours of alcohol in stores before Christmas.
– You can say what you want about the extension of the opening hours for the sale of alcohol, but all the measures that can reduce queues and congestion now before Christmas are positive, says the leader of the town hall.
But Health Minister Bent Høie (H) said no to the proposal at the government press conference on Wednesday.
also read: Oslo’s nightlife giant closes half of its nightclubs after new crown measures
Good suggestion
On Thursday, the city council will present new guidelines, and although the infection in Oslo is decreasing, Johansen does not warn of much relief.
He also doesn’t see any reason to open dice centers and pubs, for example. For many, it is difficult to understand why people can crowd in the mall but not have a beer in a pub.
– People should be able to buy food, he says.
– When we look at the infection situation in Europe, we see that many have opened too early. It is better to stay fully closed until the virus has died than to open and then have to close again, says the town hall leader, and then especially think about stopping the spill.
Johansen sees light at the end of the tunnel, and not a new freight train thundering.
– We wait every day for a vaccine to come. We are confident in the vaccine that is yet to come, but it will still take a while for everything to return to normal. We can only hope that by the summer we will return to our normal life. But it’s just a hope, he says.
Ruined proposal
The Labor Party in the Storting presented a proposal on Wednesday, in direct response to the “emergency call” that Raymond Johansen made on behalf of the Oslo nightlife and tourism industry almost two weeks ago, and which has been developed in collaboration with industry players.
In the APS proposal, they asked the Storting, among other things, to request the government to implement measures that provide access to short-term liquidity pending payments from the general compensation scheme for business and industry and a possible subsidy scheme for companies that are heavily affected by local infection control measures.
But the FRP said no, and therefore the proposal did not win a majority in the Storting.
– This can lead to bankruptcies and long-term damage to Oslo’s working life. It gives many of Oslo’s top companies the poorest finances, and the danger now is that unemployment will rise further in nightlife and tourism, Raymond Johansen tells Dagsavisen.
Oslo will remain a depleted city. Photo: Fartein Rudjord
– The government and the FRP cannot significantly worry about what this will mean for the business community and jobs in Oslo, Johansen thundered.
It also reacts strongly to the fact that FRP believes that municipalities that have introduced measures beyond the national ones should pay for them themselves.
– The proposal has been submitted during the processing of a court case without cost evaluation. If municipalities adopt more intrusive measures than national ones, they must take responsibility for how they will compensate their local companies, he said. business committee member Bengt Rune Strifeldt (Frp) to NTB early Wednesday
– This is a completely new signs and disclaimer. If this is correct, the government should come out and clarify whether they really believe that it is the municipalities that will pay the business community for the consequences of the infection control measures that the government itself expects us to introduce, says the city council leader.
New unemployment figures released on Wednesday show that there are now 34,822 unemployed in Oslo. The participation in the capital is 5.8 percent, compared to 3.8 percent or in the country.
– We have the strictest measures in the country and the health authorities had a clear expectation that we would put in place measures strict enough to kill the virus. Therefore, it is provocative that the bourgeois parties leave the economic consequences to the business community and the municipalities, he says.
Read also: People in Oslo are less tired of corona measures
18 billion
The city council leader is also provoked that the FRP achieved a breakthrough of 18 billion crowns in, among other things, tax cuts when negotiating with the government on the budget.
– They got it for a late budget hour, but to find money to help tourism and nightlife workers they didn’t find it. They can pay tax breaks for those who already have more, but not to help chefs, receptionists, waiters, taxi drivers, store clerks and bartenders, says an annoying city council leader.
– During the drop in oil prices, they helped companies and employees in western Norway. A no to a separate crisis package for Oslo is like a fist fight in the face of thousands of workers in Oslo, says Johansen.
– Nightlife and tourism are the identity and diversity of Oslo and attract hundreds of thousands of tourists. Oslo is also the gateway to tourists from all over the country. So this is not good for the future of many of Oslo’s fundamental companies, he says.
also read: Report: Excessive coronary interventions have affected vulnerable children
29 points
Oslo continues to work to reduce infection in the city. Already this summer said Mayor Marianne Borgen (SV) to Dagsavisen in the municipality of Oslo they were not good enough to inform non-Norwegian speakers.
– We have done something about it, and I think there are not many who do not know that it is a pandemic. And the 29 points that the government presented yesterday to reach immigrant groups, we have worked for a long time, says Johansen.
In the end, Johansen would like to thank everyone who has been on the front lines during the pandemic.
– I am incredibly grateful to those who work on the front lines, such as teachers, nurses, kindergarten staff, and employees in nursing homes. Schools will be closing soon and all teachers will be able to enjoy a well deserved Christmas break. These groups have a lot of credit for what has gone as well as it has, says City Councilman Raymond Johansen.
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