What does the future look like for the formerly inhabited settlement of Illorsuit in the Uummannaq Fjord? Inatsisartut discussed this last week. The coalition parties assess the issue differently.
What is the future for Illorsuit? That question was discussed by the country’s elected officials on Thursday. Atassut’s chairman, Aqqalu C. Jerimiassen, was behind a proposal for an inquiry debate based on the question.
The inhabitants of Illorsuit were evacuated from their settlement after the tsunami in the Karratfjord in 2017. Since then, the settlement has not been inhabited again. Therefore, there is neither service nor supply in the village.
But that should change now, Atassut believes. According to the proponent’s words from the podium, Illorsuit was not badly hit by the tsunami.
– In Illorsuit, an iceberg broke up on the coast, and smaller waves reached in, says Aqqalu C. Jerimiassen.
He cited Niaqornat, which is now inhabited, as an example. Niaqornat, like Illorsuit, is still located in a risk area if a tsunami were to come again, but even so stairs have been built for escape routes up the mountain by the settlement.
– If Niaqornat could be reopened, so can Illorsuit, says the proponent.
Sermitsiaq asked the proposer why he had only put forward a question debate and not a motion for a resolution.
– I did not want it to be rejected in any way if something was wrong, and with the debate proposal I wanted to find out where the coalition parties stand, and when that has happened, the goal is to achieve the result through coalition cooperation, writes Aqqalu C. Jerimiassen to Sermitsiaq.
Siumut: The thorough investigations must not come to a standstill
Together with its partners, the self-government has carried out many surveys after the tsunami, including monthly surveys. And the opposition, Siumut, believes that the work must be carried out even more consistently.
– It is completely understandable that there is a great longing to come home, and with full understanding of this, we strongly encourage Naalakkersuisut not to let the further investigations come to a standstill, but to prioritize the work with the emergency solutions and the planned warning systems, writes Siumut in his presentation to the proposal.
The proposer’s business partners: They must not return
The proposer’s coalition partners, Demokraatit, take the opposite view of their coalition partner Atassut on the issue. They refer to the reports on preparedness.
– No citizen, company or authority should return to an area if there is still a high and unpredictable risk of new landslides and waves.
– When professional assessments point to serious danger, they must be taken seriously. We owe that to both those who were affected then and those who could be affected in the future, writes Demokraatit in their comments on the proposal.
Naalakkersuisut are worried
Illorsuit is still too dangerous for people to live there on a daily basis, writes naalakkersuisoq for preparedness in his answer.
– Naalakkersuisut is aware of the Greenland Emergency Management Commission’s latest preparedness assessment for the situation regarding the risk of landslides at Umiammakku Nunaat, and tsunamis associated with landslides in these areas. It appears that Illorsuit should still be considered a dangerous area to stay in, writes Iddimanngiiu Jensen Bianco (IA), in his response note (IA).
When the landslide in the Karratfjord triggered a tsunami in 2017, Nuugaatsiaq was hit much harder than Illorsuit. Four people died and the bodies were never found.
