Concern over Suðuroy’s population decline

While most of the Faroe Islands are enjoying healthy population growth, the opposite applies to the country’s southernmost island, Suðuroy.

The island has seen a 20-percent population decline over the past 35 years, while the country’s total population has increased by 19 percent.

This 20-percent decline amounts to 1,200 people, the equivalent to the entire population of the island’s second-largest town, Vágur. At the same time, the Faroese population has increased by 8,300 people.

This should act as a wake-up call to our politicians, writes Fróði Mortensen, town manager at Tvøroyri Town Council in a recent opinion piece titled “Suðuroyggin tódnar” (“Suðuroy is shrinking”) published on news portal sudurras.fo.

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He writes that Suðuroy and Sandoy are the only regions struggling with population decline, and he hopes the upcoming Streymoy-Sandoy tunnel will reverse the downward trend for Sandoy.

However, a solution for Suðuroy is more elusive, he argues.

“A subsea tunnel to Suðuroy must become top priority in government budgets over the coming years,” he writes.

“If this leads to delays in other public projects, so be it. This is our right as residents of Suðuroy and as Faroese citizens with the same rights as everyone else in the Faroe Islands.”

The town manager adds that the government’s suggested replacement ferry for Smyril during upcoming maintenance repairs is a sign of disrespect because the replacement ferry is much smaller than Smyril.

“They clearly do not understand the needs of the commuters and the cargo requirements on the Suðuroy route.”

FC Suðuroy bolsters squad with players from Ghana

In other Suðuroy news, second division football club FC Suðuroy is looking to Ghana in its efforts to attract new talent, reports sudurras.fo.

The club recently signed a deal with a football academy in Ghana with the aim of expanding the squad and improving its current squad.

Two Ghanaian players will join the squad in the latter half of this season. One arrived in Vágur earlier this summer and another is due to arrive shortly.

FC Suðuroy was founded in January 2010 and consists of the former clubs VB and Sumba.

Read the Faroese versions of this article here and here.

More Faroese News in English.