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Sigríður Ingibjörg Ingadóttir, chair of the parliament’s Welfare Committee, declared on Tuesday that the affairs of Eir, a nursing home and safety apartment complex for the elderly, are very serious and that they will be thoroughly investigated.
The home’s financial situation is dire and it has turned out in recent days that its board members accepted payments from its funds for their personal expenses.
Social Democrat MP Ólína Þorvarðardóttir demanded the board’s resignation in her speech in parliament on Tuesday. ruv.is reports.
The first to respond to Ólína’s call was Jórunn Frímannsdóttir, who resigned from the board of Eir yesterday.
As stated on ruv.is, Jórunn explained her intention with the move was to emphasize the importance of the board members renewing their authority and all aspects of the matter being looked into.
“We’re talking about a privately-owned institution run on allowances from the state, an institution that has accepted high payments from its clients and the state but treated these payments as if they were the personal budget of its directors,” commented Ólína.
Ólína went on to describe how Eir was run. “An old man, for example, who arrived with 24 million [USD 189,000, EUR 148,000] in a suitcase a few years ago to pay for the apartment he was permitted to move into and then had to pay 63,000 [USD 497, EUR 389] per month to live there.”
Click here to read more about the affairs of Eir.
ESA
Iceland’s northernmost island is no longer one island. In a recent surveillance excursion to the Kolbeinsey, the Icelandic Coast Guard discovered that the island is now divided in two.
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Iceland is among the top five OECD-countries where immigrants help to boost the economy and increase nation-wide production by approximately 1 percent, according to a new report from the OECD.
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Neither Prime Minister of Iceland Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson nor Minister of the Interior Hanna Birna Kristjánsdóttir have responded to Edward Snowden’s request for a political asylum in Iceland, as spokesperson for Wikileaks Kristinn Hrafnsson wrote in a letter published in Fréttablaðið today.
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The first fin whale to be hunted in Iceland this season was killed by the crew of whaling vessel Hvalur 8 yesterday evening. The vessel, which set out yesterday along with Hvalur 9, is expected to unload the catch today.
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The 2013 June-July issue of Iceland Review is out. Themed ‘We Are Young’ the magazine celebrates the arrival of summer by interviewing young energetic Icelanders who excel in art, sports, business and politics—and Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson, the youngest PM in the republic’s history and the world’s youngest ruling state leader. Click here to take a look at a selection of the current issue and here to subscribe to the magazine.
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amiina
The road to Höfn, a 1,690-person harbor town by the fjord Hornafjörður, is lined with reindeer. Whole herds of the wild horned animals rest peacefully on withered pastures, grace next to sheep and horses and bounce along the road. Soon, Vatnajökull, Europe’s largest glacier and the region’s biggest attraction, comes into view. Looming over Höfn, its outlet glaciers flow down from the mountains on which the bright white icecap rests.
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Sin Fang will celebrate the release of his third album with a release concert in Iðnó on June 12. Flowers was released in February by Morr Music and has been well received by music enthusiasts and critics alike. The concert will be supported by Vök, this year’s winners of the Icelandic Music Experiments.
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