Environment Minister rejects transfer of Environment Institute to Kainuu

Government wants to move thousands of state jobs out of Helsinki region

Paula Lehtomäki

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Minister of the Environment Paula Lehtomäki (Centre) opposes a proposal to move the Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE) from Helsinki to the Kainuu region in the northeast of Finland.
      Timo Reina, the chairman of a coordinating group for government “regionalisation” projects, made a proposal to that effect in an interview with Helsingin Sanomat on Monday.
     Such a move would mean the relocation of the jobs of 500-600 environmental experts from Helsinki to Kainuu.
     “I do not believe that it would be a good solution, considering that SYKE has so much cooperation with universities and other research institutes”, Lehtomäki said on Monday.
     
According to Lehtomäki, moving some activities of SYKE from Helsinki to the provinces could be considered, but she sees no sense in transferring an entire unit. Lehtomäki says that it is best to move operations to areas that suit activities that already exist in the area.
     She rejects the notion put forward by Reina that the environment administration would have been been lazier than other sectors in redistributing activities in different areas.
     
Lehtomäki points out that the The Housing Finance and Development Centre of Finland, which operates under the Ministry of the Environment, was relocated to Lahti at the beginning of the year. She also notes that 1,300 people work in regional environment centres around the country.
     The government has stated as its goal to move between 4,000 and 8,000 state jobs out of the Helsinki region during the present electoral term.
     The principle put forward by the government is that the employees of the units to be regionalised should not be compelled to relocate against their will. Attempts would be made to find work in another branch of the state administration for those who do not want to move.
     
Many employees of units picked for regionalisation have resigned before transfers have taken place.
      Ilpo Takanen, an official of the Ministry of Finance, who is also the head of the regionalisation project, says that only 10 per cent of the employees of the police data management centre, which was transferred to Rovaniemi, moved with the job.
     At the same time that jobs are being moved to the provinces, the Ministry of Finance is trimming state jobs through its so-called productivity programme.
     Regionalisation can often mean the establishment of new jobs, rather than moving existing ones to a different city. Takanen insists that the idea of regionalisation is not in conflict with the productivity programme, as regionalisation often takes place through natural reduction, as existing employees reach retirement age.
     “It may be that there can be a double organisation for a short time during the transitional phase, but that is not a major issue”, Takanen says.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Proposal to move Finnish Environment Institute to Kainuu (15.9.2008)

Links:
  Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE)

Helsingin Sanomat