Vestmannaeyjar seeks fee exemption for damaged water pipeline

Vestmannaeyjar municipal authorities have asked for an exemption from public charges on the purchase and import of a civil protection pipeline that was damaged earlier this month while being laid between the mainland and the islands, mbl.is reports.

The request was submitted to the Ministry of Finance more than a year ago and has been reiterated several times, but the municipality has received no response.

The matter was discussed at a meeting of Vestmannaeyjar’s municipal council earlier this week. The council reviewed costs for laying the water pipeline, with incurred expenses already reaching 1.75 billion Icelandic krónur and estimated additional costs amounting to 1.36 billion krónur.

The meeting also noted that no conclusion had been reached in talks between the municipality and the ministries of infrastructure, justice and finance on further state involvement in financing the pipeline. The municipality has repeated its request for greater state participation since the council’s previous meeting.