Trainload of protesters from Kemijärvi bring pulp mill message to Parliament

Petition with nearly 30,000 signatures submitted to government

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Hundreds of people, many of whom arrived by train from Kemijärvi in Finnish Lapland, took part in a demonstration on Monday morning to oppose plans by the partly state-owned paper manufacturer Stora Enso to close down the Kemijärvi pulp mill.
      More than 500 demonstrators took their message from Helsinki's main railway station to the steps of the Finnish Parliament, where they were met by Members of Parliament representing the various parties.
      Parliamentarians from parties in the coalition government were met with jeers and boos, while those from opposition parties were cheered.
     
After the demonstration, members of the movement aimed at preserving the manufacture of pulp in Kemijärvi showed a petition with 28,000 signatures to representatives of the Parliamentary party groups. Parliament. The petition was later presented to Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen (Centre).
      Government party MPs promised to do what they could to protect jobs in the area, while those from opposition parties promised to press the government on its policy toward companies in which the state owns shares.
      Heikki Nivala, Chairman of the City Board of Kemijärvi and leader of the movement to keep the pulp mill there told MPs on the steps of the Parliament building that Stora Enso has constantly changed its reasons for closing down the pulp mill - the latest argument being a shortage of wood.
      He also denounced the notion that the Kemijärvi mill must be sacrificed to save the company's other installations as "shocking and an affront to human dignity".
      Also denouncing the planned closure of the Kemijärvi mill was Mauno Kerkelä, who spoke on behalf of 40,000 forest owners in Finnish Lapland. He reminded listeners that the closure of the factory affects ten times the number of people who actually work at the factory.
     
Members of Parliament addressing the crowd got a mixed reception. Hannes Manninen of the Centre Party began on a promising note when he said that Stora Enso scored no points for its performance. However, reactions from the crowd turned sour when he started talking about the ownership structure of Stora Enso.
      Kimmo Sasi was jeered when he pointed out that the state does not hold a majority in the company. He also noted that Parliament does not have the power to decide on the fate of the pulp mill.
     
On the opposition side, Social Democrat Jukka Gustafsson called for an extraordinary shareholders' meeting of Stora Enso to prevent the mill from being closed down.
      Esko-Juhani Tennilä of the Left Alliance said that his party would submit a Parliamentary interpellation on the matter on Friday, if the party groups do not draw up a common statement on the matter before that.
      Statements by the Christian Democrats' Bjarne Kallis and True Finn Timo Soini were also warmly received.
     
Representatives of the protesters also met Stora Enso management in the company's main offices, and in the afternoon, they met with President Tarja Halonen..
     
The petition opposing the closure of the Kemijärvi pulp mill was submitted to Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen, who stuck to his previously-expressed view that the most important aims in the current situation is to find new industrial activities for Finnish Lapland, and to continue the present level of wood harvesting in the area.
      Vanhanen emphasised that the end of pulp manufacture in Kemijärvi is "a fact".


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Laminated beam factory to be set up in Kemijärvi pulp mill building (28.1.2008)
  Vanhanen makes no new promises on Kemijärvi pulp mill (11.1.2008)
  Forestry centres: wood shortage no reason to close down Kemijärvi mill (9.1.2007)
  Stora Enso closing Summa and Kemijärvi mills at brisk pace (18.1.2008)

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