rips…
…and other disturbances…
backwards locals block progress…
Lots of people have worked hard throughout the year to get a project based on fiber-optic cable that would solve nearly all communication problems for all households in the area and provide base for future infrastructure-expansion, up and running. Now, after all the work – which has actually been going on for 3 years in total, the entire project has been blocked by a couple of backwards landowners that can't see any reason why anyone would want or need improved communication since they themselves don't. Nuts, nuts, nuts!
How can a couple of landowners block progress for hundreds of people, you may ask?
The answer is of course that a fiber-optic cable has to cross land and properties to get from A to B, and without
written permission from the owners of the land it has to cross, it simply can't. It doesn't help any that
over 30 landowners over a nearly 8 miles stretch say “yes” and are ready to participate in
voluntary work to make it happen, as – for now at least – we can't find ways around the one
or two landowners that say “no”.
To complete the picture: yes, we have the funding
in place, access to all material and machinery we need, and support from most locals. Most people in the area are as
forward-looking and progress-oriented as I and most people in Norway. This is of course a good thing
– and makes me proud, but it makes no difference for the matter at hand as one
“blockader” is all it takes for an “all or nothing”project like ours.
Apart from the limited few that
actually block us by not letting us pass their land, there are also those in the municipality that actively or
passively work against us. I live in an area that is of great value to the municipality as a whole, as the
municipality's main drinking-water resources are in these hills. Local authorities are bragging about being able to
deliver the cleanest, purest, drinking water of higher quality than any other public suppliers in Norway. They have
received national recognition over several years to prove their top position too, so they can't accuse us who live
here of polluting
nothing new in Mandal, they say…
Now, I'm not the first to notice that many in control of things in the municipality of Mandal, Norway, act as if they would rather see us who live here in these hills gone or at least be ignored and left to die, as this isn't the first project of value for us that has been blocked in recent years. The young ones with any ambitions do of course move away from the area as soon as they can, and not much chance they will return to stay as long as the area is deliberately held back.
It's the negative side of human nature at play, I guess, since there are no real reasons to prevent general progress from entering these hills. As it is: we have a pretty unreliable phone service, no cellphone coverage and therefore no ways to call emergency services if accidents happen while we're working in the fields and woods. And, since the area is only about 5 minutes drive from town center I have to say that the bad situation we're in is totally unnecessary and also totally inexcusable as we write year 2010 in one of the richest countries in the world.
Since it isn't even a question about money – that's already taken care of, the absurdity in the situation just makes it harder to explain what it's all about. Sensible people simply won't believe that anyone can be so stupid that they go against such basic needs as workiing communication to the outside world in the age of information. Sorry, but I have serious problems understanding it myself, and the above is just an attempt to at least describe the situation.
time for time off…
Myself, I'm taking time off from it all now, and am looking for opportunities elsewhere. No, I'm not moving out or giving up on this and other projects intended to bring the area a fair bit above 1950 level, but since I can't do anything but wait for the “nutty blockaders” to come to their senses, I might as well enjoy life in a warmer climate while the winter hugs Norway.
Sure, I'll miss the
“winter wonderland” in Norway, but as I'm getting older the cold weather that goes with it doesn't
play well with my bones. I'm sure you all have heard the expression: “chilled to the bone”, and it
doesn't feel good when it's ones own bones. Our small farm is taken well care of without me being here, so no
excuse for not favoring my own health and go away for a while.
Be sure I have chosen a part of the world where both proper broadband and access to other “areas of interest” are provided. I may tell you where, and more, once I'm there and find the time. Watch this section, and the others on site, as I crank up www.gunlaug.no again.
sincerely 
farm assistant
Hageland 19.nov.2010
19.nov.2010 - edited 3 times to get all facts correct. last rev: 19.nov.2010
rips…
