Firefighting bill remains unpaid

The bill for the firefighting work at Varðin Pelagic in Tvøroyri is still unpaid a year after the big factory burned to the ground.

Shipyard company Mest was asked to send one of its vessels, ‘Samson’, to Tvøroyri to help extinguish the big fire.

“We stepped in immediately and the Samson crew did a sterling piece of work,” says Mouritz Mohr, CEO of Mest.

He is unwilling to disclose who requested the assistance of Mest, but he adds that Mest has still not been paid the DKK 205,000 bill for its firefighting efforts.

Tvøroyri City Council decided last week that it would not pay the bill.

According to Henrik Weihe Joensen, administrative director at Tvøroyri City Council, the Varðin Pelagic fire was so extensive that it was classified as being on the third level of preparedness. He adds that when a fire is at this level of preparedness, the state should foot the bill.

Mest has still not received any money from the state, but Mr Mohr expects to be compensated for Samson’s work.

Tvøroyri City Council has called on the Ministry of Fisheries to set up a fast-working group to determine who should pay the bill at each level of preparedness. The City Council has also suggested the establishment of a trust, financed by the state and the municipalities, which could pay the bill in cases such as this one.

Andras Marr Poulsen, alert coordinator at the Ministry of Fisheries, says that with the information currently available, there is no legal requirement for the Ministry of Fisheries to pay the bill.

The Ministry of Fisheries did not request the assistance from Samson when fire broke out at Varðin Pelagic, says Poulsen, adding that the ministry is further investigating the matter.

Translated by prosa.fo