Muhos terminates chief building inspector during probation

Muhos has terminated chief building inspector Jultuz Änwär’s employment during his probationary period, Yle reports. The municipality’s urban environment committee made the decision unanimously on Monday, following a proposal from technical director Mikko Kari.

Committee chair Jaakko Pellikka said the decision was based on an overall assessment of Änwär’s suitability for the role. He said Änwär had been given the opportunity to be heard and had submitted a written response. Pellikka declined to provide further details, citing the decision’s status as an individual personnel matter.

Änwär has suspected that the decision was retaliation for an interview he gave Yle about Google’s data centre construction project in Muhos. The municipality has denied any connection between the interview and the termination.

The municipality had agreed internally that its chief executive, Kimmo Hinno, would handle communications about Google. Änwär nevertheless spoke to Yle about the project. Kari and Pellikka have both previously said the possible termination was unrelated to the interview or Google.

Committee documents show Änwär was offered a hearing about the possible termination during his probation. The first hearing was held on October 12, the same day as his Yle interview, and a second was scheduled for the following day. The municipality said it received his written response because he could not attend the second hearing.

The Google project has drawn widespread attention in recent weeks. In early summer, the municipality’s building inspector consented to preliminary work at the construction site under Section 109 of the Building Act. In October, the Permit and Supervisory Agency halted work, saying extensive measures that altered the environment had taken place at the Muhos and Kajaani data centre sites before environmental impact assessments were complete.

Google had cleared about 330 hectares of forest in Muhos. Änwär told Yle he had not yet started the job when the consent was given, having joined the municipality in August. He said he would not have agreed to Google’s request for preliminary work because the project’s permit processes were still far from complete.