Vestergaard rejects conflict of interest criticism over farm lease

Faroese Minister for Agriculture Jacob Vestergaard has rejected claims that his role as a land leaseholder makes him conflicted in overseeing the agricultural authority, KVF reported. He said the Faroese administration is competent and is not a “banana republic”.

Vestergaard has faced criticism after issuing instructions to the agricultural authority in May that his own administration considered unlawful. The instructions were later withdrawn.

Lawyer Jógvan Páll Lassen questioned Vestergaard’s eligibility during Friday’s edition of Dagur og vika because he is both a leaseholder and the minister responsible for agriculture.

“If Jacob Vestergaard can issue instructions to the agricultural authority, then everything falls apart for me, at least, and it should for the prime minister as well,” Lassen said.

Vestergaard said he did not consider the dual roles a problem. “I am somewhat sorry that Jógvan Páll Lassen, who is otherwise a skilled lawyer, portrays the Faroese administration as a banana republic. It is not,” he said.

Vestergaard added that the issue had been assessed previously, including in cases where other ministers responsible for business affairs had also overseen agricultural matters while holding farm leases. The conclusion in those cases was that they were not conflicted, he said.

Lassen illustrated his concern with a hypothetical example in which Vestergaard failed to fulfil his leaseholder duties and the agricultural authority decided to terminate his lease. Vestergaard could then, as minister, instruct the authority not to take the lease away, Lassen said. That would make him conflicted in the matter, he argued.

Vestergaard said he could not issue such an instruction. The Land Act explicitly states that the agricultural authority must first provisionally terminate a lease if the Food and Veterinary Authority has established a violation of animal welfare legislation. If a leaseholder is subsequently convicted of violating the law, the lease must be terminated, he said. “It is so firmly set out in the law that there is no room for manoeuvre,” Vestergaard said.