In 2013, 50 million kroner ($7.5 million) was earmarked for municipalities affected by the July 22nd Utøya tragedy, but only a few local governments applied for funds. 32 million kroner ($4.7 million) remains untouched.
A television documentary was aired on NRK about the wasted money. The film was part of the “Brennpunkt” series where the presenters followed the money and saw how most of it rested in the Norwegian government's bank account.
This last 50 million kroner amount is in addition to 130 million kroner that was already distributed by the government to affected municipalities. This time, municipalities had to actively apply for funds, and the money had to go to specific initiatives.
Leader of the July 22nd national support group, Trond Henry Blattmann, was critical of many local governments' passive attitudes.
Blattmann said to NRK: “Show me the local government who gets money for free and says 'no’. Such a local government normally doesn't exist. But in this case, it does.”
Blattmann said also: “We demanded small print stating that a report has to be made on how the fund money was spent. That sentence was enough for many local governments to choose not to apply.”
“The local governments in Norway have not fulfilled their job.”
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