Last week, Framsýn Union and the Association of Business Owners in the Northeastern Region strongly criticized municipalities in the region for supporting the merger of the Northeastern Development Agency with the Development Agency of Akureyri and the Eyjafjörður region, stating that the Northeastern Region would lose control by joining the new partnership. The new organization, SSNE, will function as a Development Agency and the Association of Local Authorities stretching from Siglufjörður in the west to Þórshöfn in the east.
The mayors and managers of the five municipalities in the Northeastern Region have now sent out a joint release, stating that is is clear that changes in local co-operation in the area are challenging but will bring more power to the region as a whole, when dealing with the government of Iceland.
“With the work that has been done in recent years in connection with the establishment of SSNE, it is our opinion that a greater trust has been established between the municipalities in the region and we intend to work together in strengthening the whole region. This was crystallized in unanimous approval of the formation of SSNE in November at the meeting of all the municipalities. We intend to start a new offensive for the residents of the area. In our opinion, it is a short-sighted and in fact time poorly spent if our forces at this point begin to revolve around the often-interpreted struggle of the Thingians and the Eyfirðinga for power,” the statement reads.
The statement is signed by Arnór Benónýsson for Þingeyjarsveit, Helgi Héðinsson for Skútustaðahreppur, Kristján Þór Magnússon for Norðurþing, Sigurður Guðmundsson for Svalbarðshreppur, and Þorsteinn Egilsson for Langanesbyggð.