The country’s five largest cities are spending a little over two million kroner combined on New Year’s Eve fireworks. Expenditure per capita is however only a few Kroner per person.
The capital tops the list of how much is spent, with 800,000 kroner, wrote VG. The sum is equivalent to 1.2 kroner per person.
Stavanger follows with fireworks for 650,000 kroner (5 kroner per person), Bergen with 300,000 kroner (1.1 kroner per person), Trondheim with 150,000 kroner (0.8 Kroner per person) and Kristiansand with 100,000 kroner (1.1 kroner per person). In the nation’s sixth largest city, Tromsø, financed fireworks by residents and sponsorship from businesses.
The municipalities say they have no problem justifying this spending.
– Public fireworks is a preventive measure to minimize illegal use of fireworks, said special consultant Jenny Wallheden Krohn for the city of Oslo.
Stavanger highlighted damage limitation as the reason for the initiative.
– We know that an eye injury can cost more than all these launches, says adviser Stein Bethuelsen in Stavanger.
According to the Norwegian Pyrotechnic association Norwegian’s use in excess of 300 million kroner on privately purchased fireworks on New Year’s Eve.
Source: NTB scanpix / Norway Today
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