Raymond Johansen (AP) believes the situation in some Oslo districts are comparable to Western Norway during the oil crisis. He believes crisis packages are needed in the capital.
“There was a great focus on unemployment in Western Norway when the oil crisis hit. The crisis packages were just the right medicine, but when we mention that we have the same unemployment numbers in three of the districts of Oslo, we don’t not get any response,” says Oslo City Council representative, Raymond Johansen, to VG.
There are the towns of Grorud, Stovner, Alna, Søndre Nordstrand and Old Oslo, which are the poorest districts in Oslo. Everyone is located east of Oslo.
Johansen will work with the government and Nav to put in place action packages that suit Oslo, and emphasize better integration and relevant work training as a key word.
He also believes class differences are still a problem in the capital, but that ethnicity and culture are also discussed.
“We as a society are completely obsessed with talking about Muslims, and it makes us totally blind to the enormous social differences that create the challenges. Instead of trying to fight them, we individualize the issues and ask the individual to get it together,” he says.
Minister for Immigration and Integration Sylvi Listhaug (Frp) disagrees and believes that a lot of money has been invested in Oslo East.
“This is not something we can just grant. We must challenge the culture which only allows over 30 percent of African women to work and that so many become passive recipients of public benefits,” said Listhaug.
© NTB Scanpix / Norway Today
