Dramas continue in the upper echelons of Icelandic society. Former Mayor of Reykjavík Markús Örn Antonsson (now Ambassador to Canada) has responded to allegations about some land that was allegedly promised to Jón Ólafsson to build a movie theatre in the Kringlan area of Reykjavík.
Jón Ólafsson, a businessman famous for his recent court case against academic Hannes Gissurarson, said that former Prime Minister Davíd Oddsson had tried to hinder Jón’s application to purchase the land. Markús Örn says that this was not the case – proof is in a letter which has only recently been found.
The saga began when Jón Ólafsson received an indication from then mayor Markús Örn that he would be granted permission to build a new movie theatre in the Kringlan area of Reykjavík, near the Verslunarskóli Íslands (“Versló”) Secondary School. According to Jón, the Prime Minister was involved by expressing his disapproval of the idea which ultimately never went ahead; Jón alleged this was confirmed in a letter sent from Markús to the Principal of Versló. The letter was lost, although the archives confirm that it was written.
Markús Örn also confirms that there was no co-operation with Davíd on these issues and that the ultimate rejection of the proposal was because the Versló school really wanted the land for educational purposes.
Following the recent publication of Jón’s memoirs, the head of the Reykjavík City Council archives searched again for the missing letter and was able to find it.
This story is on the cover of Frettabladid paper. There was no indication in the article about whether Jón was satisfied with the ultimate outcome.
