Government minister
caught in embarrassing
building permit violation
Åslaug Haga, Norway's Oil & Energy Minister who heads a party that's fought for tough restrictions on coastal development, has been fined for building an illegal pier at her own family's holiday cabin on the Nordfjord.
 Åslaug Haga heads a party that champions rural interests and the environment. Now it's been revealed that she and her husband Bård Hopland didn't practice what she preached in the case of her family's own holiday home. PHOTO: ØRN E. BORGEN |
Haga and her diplomat husband, Bård Hopland, failed to apply for a building permit and erected the pier illegally at their waterfront home, reported newspaper VG on Tuesday. The building violation was only discovered when they did apply to further develop the pier.
Now they've been fined NOK 7,500 (USD 1,500) for constructing the pier without seeking permission from local authorities. The local town council, however, has decided to allow the couple to expand their pier, since the property is accessed best from the water.
Haga said her husband, a high-ranking official in Norway's Foreign Ministry, has responsibility for most matters associated with the family cabin. "I wasn't aware of this situation until recently," she claimed, but admitted that didn't excuse her.
The case is especially embarrassing for the leader of the Center Party, which has pushed hard to demand permits for such building along the coast. The government in which she sits also has backed tough restrictions on coastal development. Haga agreed that her failure to follow her own party's and government's rules sends a bad signal to the public.
Ivar Kristiansen, environmental spokesman for the Conservatives, said Haga "and the others who try to tell others how they should live, can now get a taste of their own medicine."
Kristiansen said there are "thousands" of people in Norway who are denied the right to build on their coastal property, "because the government is preoccupied with trying to stop the wealthy from building along the Oslo Fjord.
"Now maybe Haga will be better able to understand their frustration."
Nina Berglund
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