Amal Tamimi, Iceland’s first foreign-born MP and member of political party Samfyklingin, said that the current provision for teaching immigrants the Icelandic language is not adequate and has been cut back since the economic crisis began.

Amal began a specific discussion on immigrant issues in the Alþingi today and said that if Icelanders want to avoid those problems other countries have landed in then they need to focus teaching immigrants the Icelandic language, as well as their mother tongues.

The fledging MP then went on to say that in addition, there is a need for interpretation services for immigrants. Icelandic law states that it is obligatory to offer interpretation services in doctor’s offices and courtrooms for those who don’t have Icelandic as a mother tongue.

Source: mbl.is
Image: Alþingi

Labels: Immigration, Politics

In the spirit of keeping in touch with his citizens, recently-elected mayor Jón Gnarr has started a “Mayor’s Diary” (Dagbók borgarstjóra) on Facebook, proving that he is not afraid of social networking technologies as a method of communication.

The site also affords him the opportunity to get his citizens’ opinions on his ideas, and his updates are clearly being followed. For example, Jón Gnarr posted an status message saying that he woke up with a sore throat, which resulted in him being given a ginger drink to help him get better whilst he was shopping in the supermarket.

One idea that was met with a popular response was his proposal to open a berry garden at the forest in Öskjuhlíð, which has 1,539 “likes” and 253 comments as of this post being written. The mayor’s latest update, which received 1,031 likes, is a recipe for salmon pasta:

“Salmon pasta: Two fillets of salmon with skin removed. Season with salt and pepper and 2 tbsp of sweet chill sauce per fillet. Bake in the oven for 12 mins at 190°C. Melt 200–250g of butter, adding 6 cloves of crushed garlic and some parsley. Mix the salmon and pasta together and pour over the sauce. Serve with lemons, parmesan, salad and garlic bread and season to taste. Very good!”

We’ve yet to try the recipe ourselves here at the Enquirer, but it does indeed sound “very good”. We thought we’d translate it for your delectation, and so that you can find out for yourself whether Jón Gnarr is any good in the kitchen. Do let us know.

Source and image: Mayor’s Diary

Labels: Jón Gnarr, Politics

So, Jón Gnarr, the newly-elected mayor of Reykjavík, has had little hesitation diving straight into action. His first scheme, to allow children to swim for free, took effect this Saturday. It will run throughout the summer. According to a tour guide at the Alþingi (the Icelandic parliament), the move has been well-looked upon by city residents. But that’s just one person’s opinion.

Under the mayor’s scheme, all people under the age of 18 can use the city’s swimming pools at no cost to themselves. This is the Best Party’s first job since they’ve been in power, and was announced in a co-operation statement for the party and the Social Democratic Alliance. Jón Gnarr became mayor of Reykjavík on 15th June.

Iceland has an abundant supply of geothermally-heated water, along with an abundant supply of often abysmal weather (although in the past few weeks there have been some beautiful days). As a result, swimming pools and heitir pottar* are widely popular all over Iceland. Swimming is almost the national sport (handball takes the official pride of place), and all children are required to learn to swim as part of their education.

The move by the the mayor should encourage children to get active and spend more time in Reykjavík’s wonderful pools, and outside—many of the pools are outdoors (hence the barren indoor pool above). All that’s left for the children to do is enjoy the swimming pools and celebrate the summer!

*hot pots, communal hot tubs found at nearly every pool across Iceland

Source: mbl.is
Image: chrissy575

Labels: Politics, Sport

According to a report by a journalist for the EU Observer, Dutch officials have managed to “convince” other members of the EU that the Icesave dispute is not simply a bilateral with Iceland on one side and the UK and Netherlands on the other, rather an EU-wide issue which concerns all member states.

Morgunblaðið spoke to Leigh Phillips, the EU Observer journalist, for a short time at the end of the working day in Brussels.

Phillips speaks about Iceland’s application to the EU in an article on the website of the publication, which has been republished on Bloomberg Businessweek’s website. When asked about the headline, “Iceland faces uphill battle to join EU”, Phillips says that it was not him that decided to use it.

Another matter which has been confirmed by acting officials in interviews with José Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission, is the fact that he has recently registered his concerns about the division of opinion on Iceland’s application to the EU within the country’s political system.

The Icelandic nation and its politicians are completely divided on the issue, with recent opinion polls indicating that roughly half are against and half are for (the opinion polls usually have a variance of  around 10% for/against each time a new one is given out).

Phillips concluded this from a quote by Barroso, where he said that the EU was ready to start formal talks with Iceland over its accession on the proviso that Icelanders stand together on the issue. This was confirmed in interviews with officials, who wished to remain anonymous.

Icelandic speakers can read Morgunblaðið’s interview with Leigh Phillips here, and his blog post on the issue can be read over at Businessweek.

Source: mbl.is
Image: redvers

Labels: EU, Politics

Iceland is a land with abundant supplies of pure, fresh, clean water. The same water that they export the world over in plastic bottles comes out of every tap in every Icelandic home.

The hotly-debated Water Act proposes giving landowners rights to all the water on and under their land. The act has even driven some citizens to incessantly e-mail one particular MP.

It will come as consolation to many, then, that the adoption of the highly-controversial Water Act has been postponed until 1st October 2011. An agreement on the issue was reached this evening between the cabinet and the opposition. The agreement states that a new bill concerning changes to the Water Act will be put forward in the autumn.

The Water Act was originally passed in 2006, but there has been a lot of controversy in the Alþingi surrounding the bill ever since its original passage. A section in the original bill stipulated that the adoption of the act should be postponed until 1st July 2010.

The Minister for Industry Katrín Júlíusdóttir proposed abolishing the bill entirely in the spring, but the opposition disagreed, instead suggesting that the adoption of the act should be again postponed, and that ministers should try and reach an agreement about the most controversial elements of the bill. Discussion of the bill was made a priority in parliament today, as other issues were put aside.

Katrín announced that her ministry is now working on a new draft of the bill for the Industry Committee. She has also distributed a memo identifying particular issues that demand further examination before the bill can presented to parliament once more. The issues are mostly pertaining to the rights of the public and definitions of the rights of the consumer.

To help complete the work, the Minister for Industry has turned to barristers Karl Axelsson and Ástráður Haraldsson. Together they will go over the draft with the memo sent by the minister, in consultation with lawyers from the ministry and the group have been working on the draft. They will issue their recommendations in the autumn.

Source: mbl.is
Image: Peter Allen

Labels: Politics

Ólína Þorvarðardóttir, MP for the Social Democratic Alliance, has requested the public to stop sending her e-mails regarding the bill for the controversial Water Act, which has yet to be passed by the Alþingi. The act would give landowners the right to control the water underneath their land, including drinking water, essentially privatising the water industry. Ólína claims that her inbox is full up with e-mails challenging the act.

Labels: Politics

A new political era has dawned in Reykjavík. The sometimes controversial, yet overwhelmingly popular Best Party (Besti flokkurinn), headed by comedian Jón Gnarr of the Næturvaktin TV series, won majority support in the local mayoral elections with 34.7% of the vote. The next highest percentage went to the Independence Party, one of the traditional “big four”, at 33.6%.

The six-month old party’s policies include a clean city, a Disneyland theme park near the airport and a new polar bear for the local zoo. We posted their campaign video last week, which is set to the tune of Tina Turner’s “Simply The Best”.

The party has wasted no time and got straight into discussions with the Social Democratic Alliance on the formation of a new majority for Reykjavík. According to Óttarr Proppé, councillor for The Best Party, a plan for meetings over the next few days was made a priority.

Óttarr says, “The Best Party is new to all of this, so it will just take us a bit longer to work our way through, we’re not accustomed to it. It is clear from all angles that we’re not going to put ourselves through any stress.”

When the conversation turned to the topic of party leader Jón Gnarr, Óttarr mentioned that he had not taken part in the morning’s meetings, and had instead got himself a well-deserved good night’s sleep, spent time with his family and gone to the coffee shop.

Source: BBC News, mbl.is
Image: hugi.is

Labels: Politics

“Naturally, we are talking about shit,” says Ingimar Ingimarsson, member of the executive committee for Hafnarfjörður. The community has been trying to get Garðarbær to pay for the use of the Hafnarfjörður sewage system for the past five years, but to no avail.

A retail park which belongs to Garðabær situated on the foothills of Hafnarfjörður, has been using the system, placing it under considerable strain according to Ingimar. IKEA is amongst those stores in the park connected to the Hafnarfjörður system.

It was at long last agreed at a Garðabær council meeting that the mayor of Garðabær should discuss the issue of paying off past costs for using the system with the mayor of Hafnarfjörður, and come to an agreement on continued cooperation.

Asked whether the matter should be in the hands of civil servants, rather than the mayors themselves, Ingimar said that the civil servant route had already been tried out.

The costs which are being discussed total about 20 million krónur, “if they are fully paid”, adds Ingimar. Exactly how much the citizens of Garðabær ought to pay towards the 4 billion krónur sewage system is widely disputed.

Ingimar says that in addition to this, Garðabær council has billed companies in the area for using the system, without Hafnarfjörður council being aware.

“We have had this item on the agenda many times,” says Ingimar, meaning to say that the committee members have become extremely irritated by this issue, having brought it up repeatedly with the Garðarbær committee.

“At the end of the day, Garðabær residents are going to the the toilet at the expense of those who live in Hafnarfjörður,” Ingimar said about this long-lasting bone of contention between the communities. The dispute continues.

Source: visir.is
Image: lakelife

Labels: Garðabær, Hafnarfjörður, Politics

The Social Democratic Party is maintaining a lead of 46.1% of voters, according to an opinion poll conducted by the party in the community of Hafnarfjörður. The Independence Party came in second with 33.6% of voter support, followed by 17.9% for the Left Greens. The Progressive Party tailed the procession with 2.4% voter support. If these were the results of the election, the Social Democrats would win five seats, the Independence Party four and the Left Greens two.

Asked about the position of chairman of the district council, 68% of Hafnarfjörður residents said that they wanted Lúðvík Geirsson to remain in his position as mayor of Hafnarfjörður, according to a press release from the Social Democrats. He is in sixth place on the list of candidates for the party in Hafnarfjörður and would therefore not win the mayoral election, and according to the poll the majority has all but disappeared in the town. The Social Democrats currently hold six of the eleven available seats.

As the situation stands, 69% of residents would prefer to delay debt repayments rather than cutting back on welfare services.

The social sciences department of the University of Iceland conducted the poll for the Social Democratic Party over the period of the 3rd–12th May 2010. Respondents could choose any of the chairmen of the parties who are running in Hafnarfjörður that they wanted for the position of mayor in the upcoming election. Valdimar Svavarsson (17%), Guðrún Ágústa Guðmundsdóttir (9%) and Valdimar Sigurjónsson (1%) came behind Lúðvík Geirsson in the mayoral opinion poll. Approximately 5% of respondents chose someone else.

Source: mbl.is

Labels: Hafnarfjörður, Politics

Besti flokkurinn. You may have heard of them, you may have not. It is the fruit of Næturvaktin’s Jón Gnarr’s labours, in attempt to spice up Icelandic city politics. His joke party, founded this year, is running for the local election in Reykjavík this year. If recent opinion polls are anything to go by, then the Besti flokkurinn is by far the most popular political party out of all those running for the local election.

The modestly-named “Best Party” has released their campaign video, which you can watch above. The Tina Turner-themed video extols the wishes of those in Besti flokkurinn, which presumably reflect most Reykjavíker’s hopes for their city, and makes for hilarious if pertinent viewing. If nothing else, I think most people who live in the city would relish the prospect of Georg Bjarnfreðarson as their leader.

Labels: Humour, Politics

The city council today agreed to the Left Green councillors’ proposition for an annual open citizens’ meeting on the streets of the city of Reykjavík, where the elected representatives would answer their questions. The story came to light through a party announcement today.

It has emerged that the aim of the proposition is to respond to the societal demands for democratic administrative practices, to encourage those who live in the city to increase their influence and participation in political discussions, and to strengthen the relationship between the elected representatives and those who elected them.

The meetings would be first and foremost platforms for direct communication between city residents and the elected representatives, on whatever issues may arise. It is expected that they would be arranged by neighbourhood councils in consultation with residents’ associations and local service centres. The proposition is part of the drive to improve services and secure the city residents’ trust in them.

Source: mbl.is
Image: vg.is

Labels: Politics