Faroese chief medical officer admits mistake in Bakkafrost reporting case

The Faroese chief medical officer has acknowledged she was wrong to criticise a whistleblower who alerted the prime minister’s office about a potential fine against salmon producer Bakkafrost, national broadcaster Kringvarp Føroya reports.

Chief Medical Officer Birna Mørkøre confirmed she was “not pleased” to learn that the whistleblower had contacted Prime Minister Bárður Nielsen’s chief of staff, John Rajani, in 2021 to disclose that the Faroese Health Authority was preparing to issue Bakkafrost a fine of up to 67 million Danish kroner.

“It’s not standard procedure,” Mørkøre told Kringvarp Føroya, adding that the whistleblower does not formally report to the prime minister’s office. She admitted, however, that her initial reaction had been incorrect: “I was wrong.”

The case centres on a 2021 incident in which the whistleblower informed Rajani of the impending fine against Bakkafrost, one of the Faroe Islands’ largest employers. The Health Authority had reportedly identified violations warranting the substantial penalty.