The financial hole in which the Port of Frederikshavn finds itself is deep.
In clogs, the port on the north Jutland east coast has a debt of 1.5 billion, and in that context, this week’s news that the port needs Frederikshavn Municipality to increase the loan guarantee to the port by 35 million is peanuts.
But the extended loan guarantee is another sign that the economy behind the port is terminally ill. And the worst part of that news is that the Port of Frederikshavn is a municipal port, so it is the citizens of the municipality who will be fined if the port goes bankrupt. Currently, it is a debt of 19,000 kroner for each and every citizen in Frederikshavn Municipality. From pensioner to nappy.
It is a fierce perspective.
A new port management and a city council, who have seen the writing on the wall, are naturally fighting to ensure that the worst does not happen, and something can of course be saved by focusing on ordinary, good business.
But fundamentally, the citizens of Frederikshavn should be able to demand from their elected representatives that the case gives food for thought, perhaps even a change in the way local politicians act. And this also applies to other city councils in the region. Unfortunately for North Jutland, the municipal port adventure in Frederikshavn is similar to what happened in Hirtshals and Hanstholm. Unfortunately, because here, too, we are talking about large debts after massive investments and the prospect of relatively small incomes.
Seen from the outside, it looks like they have forgotten the first tenet of all investment: Can it pay off?
At the same time, there are indications that ambitions to win a “port race” have overridden ordinary, common economic sense – there is probably an upper ceiling for how many large ports North Jutland can accommodate. Now to say it in North Jutland.
The danger that municipal politicians expose the municipality to, municipal researcher Roger Buch has previously explained in North Jutland: When the public sector is involved in the ports, investments can end up as debt, which can destroy the municipal economy. A public company does not have the option of going bankrupt in the same way as a private company.
For the sake of the citizens of Frederikshavn, we have to cross our fingers that it doesn’t get that far.
In the future, citizens should not have to cling to hope. They should be able to trust that it is economic insight and knowledge that underlies large municipal investments, not emotions or hopes.
2024-03-23 05:01:48
#important #lesson #port #adventure #answered