– There is no money for this now.

Knut Arild Hareide (KrF) cancels the start of construction of the world’s first ship tunnel. – I’m embarrassed and angry, says Alfred Bjørlo of the government partner Venstre.

In just a few months, the shovel would be buried in the ground and the world’s first ship tunnel would become a reality.

But now the government is canceling the start of construction in 2021. Not a single crown has been prioritized for the project in the state budget, which will be presented on October 7.

– It’s so simple that I don’t want to stop projects that are already underway. We have big start-up projects that cost a lot, some have also become a lot more expensive than we expect. Stopping and starting them in five years is terribly expensive, says Hareide (KrF).

In short, Hareide says that his money bag is empty.

– There is little room for new projects. In order not to have to stop the project we are working on, those who are waiting for start-up must be suspended. Unfortunately this applies to the Stad ship tunnel. There is no money for this now, he explains.

If construction of the tunnel started in 2021, Hareide would have to put NOK 60 million in start-up funds on the table no. In total, the development will require around three billion crowns in the coming years.

– Not canceled

The project will prevent large and small ships from passing through one of the most dangerous coastal stretches on the Norwegian coast: Stadhavet.

So far, the project has been in full swing for 21 years. As if that were not enough, exit number 22 is also on the way.

Hareide rejects that the tunnel is a perennial excavation project and says the government intends to build the tunnel.

– The city’s ship tunnel has not been canceled. It is a very interesting and unique project for the government. All that is involved is money, explains Hareide, who has warned that many who are waiting for road projects will be disappointed.

– Now they have prioritized this project in the state budget. Does this also mean that it will be downgraded in the National Transportation Plan this spring?

– We have not said yes to any project, nor no to any project of the National Transportation Plan. “I see this as a clearly prioritized project by both Vestland and Møre og Romsdal, but the government has yet to initiate its priorities. Clear local priorities are important to us in the downstream process,” Hareide says.

The National Transportation Plan (PNT) is the government plan for which railroad and highway projects will be built. If you don’t include your project in it, you will have to wait many years for the next opportunity.

Frp promises revenge

But the battle for $ 60 million to start construction is not over yet, and after the government has submitted its state budget proposal, the majority in the Storting must approve it.

Hareide is part of a minority government and is therefore forced to establish alliances with parties outside the government. The first stop in the round of negotiations is the partner Framstegspartiet.

It will probably offer difficult negotiations. FRP promises to secure a majority for the ship tunnel start-up funds.

– We await investment decisions now, it is only a matter of time. The shovel must be on the ground, the dynamite ointment must be in the mountains, former Transport Minister Jon Georg Dale (Frp) told NRK on Friday.

Cursed by both the government and his own party

Stad Municipality Mayor Alfred Bjørlo has been fighting for the tunnel for several years. The news that there will likely be a launch is not well received.

– Quickly summarize, I am embarrassed and angry, he says.

It is particularly upsetting that the government has already played with the budget that it will spend $ 32 billion on railways. Much of this will be used in Australia.

– I have the feeling that there is an A team and a B team in Norway, where huge investment budgets are raised in the Oslo area, where you bluff in the cost weeks. At the same time, Stad’s ship tunnel has been lined up in a neat and orderly fashion, and the cost framework remains compliant, says Bjørlo.

The only two liberal mayors in the country are in the municipalities closest to the Stad ship tunnel. Bjørlo is clearly disappointed that his own party failed to make a breakthrough, but he doesn’t know why it happened.

– No, you almost have to ask the Liberal Party centrally about that. We have pressed the buttons that can be pressed. The two words “embarrassed” and “pissed off” are quite fitting there too, says Bjørlo.

Now he describes the whole situation as a “gift package” for the government’s FRP, and hopes that Dale’s promises will be enough to fight the seed money in the state budget.

– I still have a watch in the project. I won’t give up until I’m in his place, says Bjørlo.