Local residents chased away to make room for British tourists in Lapland

Notice of termination gives Martti Lauhamaa six months to demolish his house

Martti Lauhamaa

Maija Komulainen

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By Jenni Leukumaavaara in Enontekiö
     
      In the northern municipality of Enontekiö, up in the outstretched "arm" of Finland in north-western Lapland, Martti Lauhamaa has six months to pack up his belongings and demolish his house.
      This is what the British tour operator Transun Travel said to Lauhamaa.
      The company, which operates in Finland under the name of Santa Safari, would like to build holiday accommodation in the Enontekiö village of Karesuvanto ”having respect for the wild nature of the area and the local way of life”.
      The company notified Lauhamaa in November of the fact that the lease on the plot on which his house is located will be terminated at the end of the year.
     
At the end of a winding lane, we find Lauhamaa’s red cottage on a 5,000 square-metre plot of land.
      Inside the cosy cottage, the humour has turned rather dark and sooty.
      ”You could be in for the largest Midsummer bonfire in the entire North Calotte”, says Lauhamaa, 53, with a wry smile, sitting in a rocking chair.
      The region he is referring to is the "cap" or "calotte" at the top of Europe, sprawling across several countries, so he is not exactly being shy and retiring about the conflagration in prospect.
     
After Santa Safari’s announcement, Lauhamaa has tried to negotiate the purchase of the plot or an extension of the lease.
      He has even tried to sell his house to the company in order to break even. We are not interested, the company has replied through their Finnish lawyer.
     
A couple of snowy fields away from Lauhamaa’s cottage lives Maila Komulainen, 60.
      She has managed to negotiate an extension on her lease until 2015 with the help of her lawyer.
      Nevertheless, this does not give her much comfort, either.
      ”After having built a home for the rest of my life on a state-owned plot of land, this really feels bad. I have even tried to purchase the land, without any success”, says Komulainen in a quiet voice.
     
Santa Safari has an entirely different view of the matter, while the opinion of the Enontekiö Municipal Manager lies somewhere between the two extremes.
      According to Nico Kostich, director of Transun Travel, the matter has been handled in cooperation with residents.
      In its own estimation, the company has not caused any financial or other losses to the two leaseholders.
      Pentti Keskitalo, Municipal Manager of Enontekiö, heard about the threat of demolition for the first time from Helsingin Sanomat.
      After initial astonishment, one can interpret from his words that the British company is too valuable a partner to be thrown to the wolves, even though its reputation and operating procedures have a few nasty stains.
     
Two years ago, Transun Travel made headlines of all the wrong kind when British tourists complained about the conditions on their December holiday in Lapland, saying that the Winter Wonderland holiday resort was "more like a refugee camp" and that the place was a salmonella risk.
      The now-defunct tabloid The News of the World went to town on the story under a banner headline that read "Welcome to Crapland!"
      Airport Manager Matti Sorvari, from Enontekiö and Ivalo Airports, reports that Transun Travel has caused dangerous situations by using buses with summer tyres in icy conditions and by holding up flights.
      Last winter, a car accident with people suffering injuries occurred in the area.
      Moreover, the conditions for huskies [for dog sled safaris] at the company’s ranch have been found to be inadequate.
      ”They are dumping prices and saving in everything possible, but in the long run, it will not be profitable. And it is not right, even though they are important clients for a poor municipality”, Sorvari notes.
     
The most recent financial statement of Santa Safari in the trade register dates back to 2009.
      The operation has been running at a modest loss.
      According to Kalevi Paassilta, Maila Komulainen’s lawyer, the role of the state - primarily that of Metsähallitus - is also questionable.
      Paassilta says that the state has taken the wrong course of action.
      ”I am really surprised at the procedure by which Metsähallitus sells a property containing several plots for detached houses, without contacting all leaseholders. In general, the extension of a contract and a potential sale are agreed upon prior to the sales transaction, and the contract of sale has to be made explicit”, Paassilta argues.
     
Paassilta is wondering whether the state has acted in the wrong manner on the pretext of financially-straitened circumstances.
      ”The duty of the property investment company Kapiteeli [a state-owned enterprise active from 1999-2006] was just to sell land areas in an efficient way, with the maximum returns. For example Metsähallitus used to own many such areas. In the search for as high a return as possible, the tenants in this instance have been left to fend for themselves, which has caused them unreasonable suffering”, Paassilta charges.
      If nothing else helps, the leaseholders intend to take the matter to court.
     
     
BACKGROUND: The transfer of land areas from Metsähallitus to a budget tour operator
     
     
Metsähallitus, the state enterprise whose task is to manage most of the protected areas of Finland and to supply wood for the country's forest industry, used to own the hectares in Karesuvanto until 2001.
     
Martti Lauhamaa leased a half-hectare plot [5,000 sq.m.] and bought a house of approximately 70 square metres in 1997.
     
Maila Komulainen built her house, slightly larger, in 1986.
     
The area was transferred to the newly-established state-owned property investment company Kapiteeli in 2001. Komulainen tried to buy her plot at the time, but her offer was rejected.
     
The real estate investment company Sponda, which was set up in connection with the banking crisis in 1991 by the Bank of Finland, acquired the entire share capital of the property investment company Kapiteeli in 2006.
     
Sponda is a public limited company, of which the state owns 15 per cent.
     
In March 2007, Sponda sold the properties in question to a Swedish-Danish fund established by the Whitehall Street Real Estate Funds and Niam Nordic Investment Fund III. Sponda continued to manage the properties in the portfolio after the sale.
     
In November 2007, the land areas were bought by the British tourism company Transun Travel/Santa Safari, and this marked the beginning of the problems faced by Lauhamaa and Komulainen.
     
Lauhamaa and Komulainen were never informed who owned the land areas, and to whom they should make their regular lease payments.
     
In October 2011, Santa Safari sent an invoice covering the lease payments for 2007-2011, including interest of 16% on overdue payments.
     
In November 2011, Santa Safari announced that the leasehold agreements would not be continued, and neither was it willing to sell a total of 1.5 hectares of its land area to Lauhamaa and Komulainen.
     
     
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 12.12.2011


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Santa Tourism Superpower (19.12.2006)

Links:
  Santa Safari
  Metsähallitus
  Sponda

JENNI LEUKUMAAVAARA / Helsingin Sanomat