Emergency measures to cut road accidents (Dagsavisen)

With 52 people dead and almost 1,300 injured on the roads in June and July, Transport Minister Torhild Skogsholm has demanded emergency measures to prevent more accidents in the holiday season. The Police Directorate has ordered the country’s police districts to be on high alert, while digital speed cameras will also be employed to cut the accident rate. The Transport Minister summoned representatives from the police, the Norwegian Society for Road Safety, the Public Roads Administration and the Directorate of Public Roads to an emergency meeting yesterday in an effort to identify measures to reverse the worrying increase in accidents this summer – with particular emphasis on emergency measures to safeguard holiday motorists.

248 lives could be saved (Dagbladet)

The experts know what needs to be done to reduce the number of road accidents, and have given the politicians the ‘recipe’ for saving up to 248 lives. The proposals include more 70 km zones, bigger fines, penalty points for motorists, more speed cameras and obligatory use of reflectors by pedestrians and cyclists. The experts from the Institute of Transport Economics reject the claim that all of the effective and cheap measures have already been used up. Increased safety does not have to cost more than we are already spending on road safety measures, nor is it necessary to allocate more public money.

Sami people will not be granted ownership rights to land and water (Aftenposten)

The Government has rejected the claims of the Sami people to exclusive ownership rights to land and water in Finnmark. But they will be given the right to influence the way state-owned land in the county is managed. This is the central point in the "Finnmark Act" which the Justice Department is currently preparing. The act will regulate the relationship between a number of ethnic groups in this multi-cultural county, one of which has been defined as an ‘indigenous people’ by the UN. As a result, this is one of the most sensitive bills the Government currently has in progress.

Banks profit from bad advice (Dagsavisen)

Over the past few months plummeting stock markets have inflicted heavy losses on Norwegian unit trust investors. But the banks are still making substantial profits by recommending unit trusts rather than savings accounts. The calculation is simple. There is tough competition between the various banks to have the highest interest on deposits, so an ordinary customer would have no problem getting seven per cent interest on his or her savings account. But with the money market rate currently at 7.3 per cent the banks make only 0.3 per cent in profit on the cash deposited in savings accounts. The margins are better for unit trusts. Most allow themselves to take an annual management fee of 2.5 per cent of the amount invested, on top of which come fees for buying and selling.

Cost NOK 12 billion (Dagens Næringsliv)

The battle waged by Svein Aaser, chief executive of Den norske Bank (DnB), to gain control of Storebrand has been extremely expensive for Storebrand’s shareholders – Svein Aaser and DnB included. If Mr Aaser had said, "yes, please", when Sampo boss Björn Wahlroos offered to pay almost NOK 21 billion for Storebrand last summer, Storebrand’s current shareholders would have been NOK 12.4 billion richer than they are today. DnB’s rejection of Sampo’s offer has cost DnB NOK 1.2 billion.

Reprimand for Norwegian Defence Estates Agency (Verdens Gang)

The Office of the Auditor General has reprimanded the Norwegian Defence Estates Agency for inadequate routines in connection with the purchasing of external consultancy services. The public service real estate giant pays NOK 60,000 for every person it recruits, even if an internal candidate gets the job. Over the past year and a half the Norwegian Defence Estates Agency has paid out almost NOK 20 billion to external consultants. The Office of the Auditor General has now given the Agency a formal reprimand for violating official procedures in connection with a number of consultancy contracts.

Huge compensation claim (Aftenposten)

A couple of days ago she was charged with failing to keep her dogs in a safe manner, but escaped being charged with manslaughter. In January her dogs killed a seven-year-old in Vest-Torpa. Now she has announced that she will be claiming up to NOK 400,000 in compensation because the police shot all 25 of her dogs. Dog experts say the police were correct to put all the animals down. Public Prosecutor Arne Ingvald Dymbe is firmly convinced that the police did what they had to do. The father of the dead boy has described the dog-owner’s compensation claim as shameless.

1 Worth Noting

• When fellow inmates claimed that Kristin Kirkemo Haukeland was involved in plans to escape from Bredtvedt Prison, the prison authorities took no chances. Ms Kirkemo Haukeland, convicted in connection with the Orderud triple murder, was handcuffed and secretly transferred to Drammen Prison yesterday. (Verdens Gang)
• Labour and the Socialist Left Party want to allow an extension of the hours in which beer may be sold in supermarkets. However, both parties’ youth wings, as well as the youth wings of the Centre Party and the Christian Democrats, see no reason why people should be allowed to buy beer after 8 pm. "Increased availability leads to increased consumption and increased abuse. For us this is a matter of solidarity," said Eva Kristin Hansen of Labour’s youth wing (AUF). (Vårt Land)
• The Government is planning to reorganize the Directorate of Fisheries and close down four regional offices without raising the matter with the Storting. But Inge Ryen of the Socialist Left Party refuses to accept that the Storting be denied a say in the matter. (Nationen)
• This autumn the Conservative Party will start a training programme for women politicians, dubbed the ‘Petticoat School’. "We want to increase the number of women in the party. It could definitely be higher, but that is something which applies to all parties," said Gretha Thuen, women’s affairs spokesperson for the Conservative Party. (Dagsavisen)
• Superintendent Finn Abrahamsen believes the rule of confidentiality which the child welfare services are obliged to abide by means that cases of serious child abuse do not come to light. He has now called for increased cooperation between the police, hospitals and the child welfare services. (Verdens Gang)
• Celebrity investors Stein Erik Hagen and Christen Sveaas could jointly have lost over half a billion kroner after Storebrand’s share price sank like a stone yesterday. (Dagbladet)
• Over 60 per cent of Norwegian unit trust funds have done worse than the Oslo Stock Exchange’s main index so far this year. The slump continued yesterday. The main index plummeted to a new record for the year, bringing it to its lowest point for three and a half years. (Dagens Næringsliv)
• Unit trust investors are pulling their money out as stock markets crash. But the unit trust managers are still refusing to change the profile of the individual unit trusts. According to the Banking, Insurance and Securities Commission, unit trusts managed from Norway must consist of at least 80 per cent shares or other equity instruments. (Dagens Næringsliv)
• Karita Bekkemellem Orheim and Bjarne Håkon Hanssen may rivals at work, they are both candidates for the deputy leadership of the Labour Party, but during the summer holidays they are the best of friends. The pair are united in their rejection of fellow deputy leader candidate, Trond Giske’s, wish to swing the party to the left. Both want Labour to stay on its present heading, towards the Conservatives and the Christian Democrats. (Aftenposten)
• The meteorologists are in no doubt, and are promising temperatures upwards of 30 ⁰>C in southern and eastern Norway at the weekend. The summer is finally here – in the south, too. (Verdens Gang)

2 Today’s comment from Verdens Gang

If you listen to this summer’s frothing debate on beer sales, you could be forgiven for thinking that buying beer in this country is a major problem. Happily, this is not the case. But the debate reflects the fact that both politicians and the populace want a society with as few restrictions as possible. One result of the current proposals would be an extension of the time in which beer may be sold in supermarkets. Such a move is opposed by teetotallers and temperance-minded politicians alike. We share their concerns about the tragic consequences of alcohol abuse, but not their conviction that restrictive shop opening laws remain an effective antidote. Access to alcohol is not a problem in this country. But we do have a fatal lack of the kind of drinking culture which exists in many countries with a more liberal alcohol policy. To change that culture requires other, newer measures. Having said that, a liberalization of today’s legislation does not mean that all restrictions will be swept away. The sale of a legal substance like beer should be permitted during the shops’ entire opening hours. We have more faith in the retail trade’s ability to set its own limits, based on safety and profitability. There is not much profit to be had from selling beer in the shops at 2 o’clock in the morning.