The municipal board of Avannaata Kommunia held an extraordinary meeting on Wednesday 27 May. The second item on the agenda was the port conditions in Ilulissat. It was approved by the majority of the municipal council, namely the members from Siumut and Naleraq.
This decision means that the existing pontoon bridges at the port of Ilulissat must be moved to Itisuarsuk (Holländerhavnen), and the project is estimated to cost DKK 4.7 million, says the mayor of Avannaata Kommunia Lars Erik Gabrielsen to Sermitsiaq.
The municipal board of Avannaata Kommunia held an extraordinary meeting on Wednesday 27 May. The second item on the agenda was the port conditions in Ilulissat. It was approved by the majority of the municipal council, namely the members from Siumut and Naleraq.
This decision means that the existing pontoon bridges at the port of Ilulissat must be moved to Itisuarsuk (Holländerhavnen), and the project is estimated to cost DKK 4.7 million, says the mayor of Avannaata Kommunia Lars Erik Gabrielsen to Sermitsiaq.
– When you look at it all together, we are in a very bad position with the port conditions in Ilulissat. These grants do not relate to Itisuarsuk. The existing pontoons must be moved over there, says Lars Erik Gabrielsen (S).
Must stay in the ice
The new pontoons, which are expected to be located at the quay, must remain in the ice during the winter when ice forms, instead of being taken ashore.
– It is not the idea that they should be taken up and removed all the time, we would like to get away from that. We think it makes better sense for it to lie in the sea throughout the winter, says the mayor.
The DKK 4.7 million that the project will cost must be financed by transferring money from already other projects.
The remaining DKK 3.3 million, which was set aside for the renovation of the incineration plant in Ilulissat, DKK 600,000 set aside for road renovation and DKK 800,000, which was already set aside for road maintenance in the settlements, must now be used to establish new pontoons in Ilulissat.
The administration states that the renovation of the incineration plant in Ilulissat will be cheaper than expected. The municipality also states that work on road renovations in the smaller settlements in 2026 has already started in Nuussuaq, Aappilattoq, Upernavik Kujalleq, Ukkusissat, Saattut, Ikerasaarsuk, Saqqaq and Oqaatsut.
The opposition: There is a lack of information
The opposition, Demokraatit, Atassut and IA, voted neither for nor against. They believe that the necessary information about the case is missing.
– We have asked questions about the course of work with the pontoon area in Itisuarsuk, as we have criticized that it has not been dealt with in the technical committee, and at the same time asked how the case even started, they write.
According to member of the technical committee from the opposition, Niels Erik Bro (D), the project has not been discussed in the committee. Only when funds had to be transferred did the committee deal with the matter. According to him, it is only the transfer of funds, and not the project itself, that the committee has decided on.
Sermitsiaq has been in contact with committee chairman Sakio Fleischer (S). He confirms that the transfer of grants has been discussed in the committee. But he does not confirm whether the committee has discussed the project itself.
– I don’t expect that there has been a cunning act. But work has previously been done to remedy the lack of space for boats in Ilulissat, says Sakio Fleischer to Sermitsiaq.
The mayor also confirms that the project has not been discussed in the committee.
– That is correct. The technical committee has not dealt with how they are to be established concretely, says Lars Erik Gabrielsen.
It will cost money
In all the municipality’s pontoons in Ilulissat, there is also a user fee for having a boat space, says the mayor. This means that fishermen and other users get a fixed place for their boats. But the technical committee has not yet dealt with what it will actually cost to use them, says the mayor.
Grants for existing projects are reduced
The opposition is also not satisfied that funds are taken from already financed projects.
– Of the funds that were already included in last year’s budget, DKK 1,400,000 is intended for the floating bridges after taking money from road maintenance in the settlements. We believe that the planning should have already started then. DKK 3,300,000 has been taken from the incineration plant, even though waste management everywhere in the north is to a large extent a very important project, the opposition states.
They also agree that a solution must be found to the port conditions in Ilulissat, but they want to participate to a greater extent in the processing of the case.
– We strongly agree that the port conditions in Ilulissat must be resolved as soon as possible. And we definitely believe that if we could be allowed to participate in the discussions, we would be able to create good results together. But we also have to take into account our financial capacity and sound management in the future, they write.
