Residents of Borgarfjörður eystri began paving the only road into town in protest against a lack of government action to fix it, RÚV reports. Residents say they are fed up with the road’s poor condition and ask the government to pave it.
Borgarfjörður eystri is a town of roughly 100 inhabitants located in East Iceland. A single, winding road is the only way in or out of the town, and it is unpaved and full of potholes. Many of the town’s residents met at the road yesterday, using a tractor to pour concrete over the road. The town’s only store closed in September of last year, making the nearest shop 70 kilometres (43 miles) away.
“This is simply the worst part of the country’s road system and we are the only town in the country without a paved road to the next service centre. The shop has gone and we need to access commercial and medical service in the region,” says Borgarfjörður eystri resident Eyþór Stefánsson.
“We have had enough. We can’t live here without a road,” said Helgi Hlynur Ásmundsson, another of the town’s residents.
