Finland’s tabloids continue to test the temperature of the political waters with a look at the newly-formed government and its growing pains. On its inside pages Ilta Sanomat probes what it sees as incipient cracks in the coalition government by reporting on a decision by the National Coalition's Economic Affairs Minister Jan Vapaavuori to cancel a joint sauna press event with Social Democratic Labour Minister Lauri Ihalainen due Wednesday.
The paper reports that Vapaavuori’s move followed incensed comments in which he accused SDP Finance Minister Antti Rinne of flying solo in his budget proposal -- by making unilateral decisions on tax breaks for retirees and a monthly 10-euro increase for the lowest earning pensioners. The paper also reports that Swedish Peoples Party chief and Defence Minister Carl Haglund was also irked by Rinne’s budget revelations.
Stubb's style -- too relaxed?
Iltalehti meanwhile trains its lens on Prime Minister Alexander Stubb, whom it reports has been taking increasing flak for his seemingly unorthodox approach to the premiership. According to the tabloid some believe that Stubb appears to be interested in too much apart from governing, even offering sartorial guidelines to one of his MPs attending a public event in Jyväskylä last week.
Stubb also raised eyebrows – and temperatures – by turning up for a press conference last week wearing flip-flops, shorts and riding a bike. His Twitter habit meanwhile landed him in hot water with some for tweeting about a triathlon rather than attending to hefty matters of state like the radioactive political fallout from the east Ukraine crisis.
Big winners in Helsinki construction; fraud under investigation
Leading circulation daily Helsingin Sanomat offers a double sided view of the construction sector in the capital with a report on the Finnish construction company YIT, which it says has signed deals worth nearly 130 million euros with the city of Helsinki since 2009. According to HS, YIT’s contracts are worth roughly the same as deals the city inked with three other contractors – Skanska, SRV and NCC.
YIT’s turnover in 2013 was about 1.25 billion euros, one-third of which came from the public sector. Since 2011 the city has purchased roughly 900 million euros of construction services, fully 15 percent of which came from YIT, just one of 750 suppliers.
In a companion piece, HS also reports that police are currently investigating suspected crimes at Helsinki City’s public works department. Police are looking into allegations that between 2003 and 2011, the department has been swindled out of at least 540,000 euros in ghost invoices for works projects. The city itself has estimated the financial impact of the illegal billing at around 1.6 million euros. The police investigation is focusing on 35 suspects and seven construction sites run by YIT, Lujatalo, Fira and by Antti J. Ahola, a construction firm.
Faulty electrical work becoming more widespread
The broadsheet daily Turun Sanomat leads off Monday with a report on an increase in faulty electrical work. The paper quotes the Finnish Safety and Chemicals Agency (Tukes), which said that inspections of electrical installations in 2013 revealed that 20 percent were defective. A similar review in 2011 found that 10 percent of electrical work was faulty. Most of the defects were found in detached homes and summer cottages.
The technical safety watchdog said that the rise in shoddy work was due to a lack of professional skills and an underestimation of risk. For its part the Electrical Contractors’ Association blamed the situation on increasing competition and poor employment prospects in the sector.
Delays in psychiatric care for minors in Tampere
The Tampere-based paper Aamulehti headlines its print edition with a look at the shortage of psychiatric services for young people in the Tampere region. The paper writes that the queue for service averages out at between 30 and 50 patients aged between 13 and 18.
While patients should receive an evaluation within three weeks after being referred for treatment, they often wait for up to three months. Behind the backlog is an increasingly early rate of detection of mental health problems among minors, with the most common problems being depression and anxiety.