The soldiers at Skjold fear poor hygiene and illness in the barracks because the Armed Forces' agreement on paper towels and soap has expired.
Since January, conscripts at Skjold have not received enough soap and paper towels. The Norwegian Armed Forces' agreements to provide paper towels and soap have expired. At times, conscripts have had to buy paper towels themselves.
Many of the barracks at Skjold camp have not had access to paper towels and soap, a problem that has persisted since January. Photo: Krister Sørbø, Forsvarets forum
Because there is no paper towels, the conscripts have had to dry their hands on their uniforms, says company shop steward Sigurd Ramdal.
We have been without soap for washing rooms and paper towels almost since the recruits. The small amounts of soap and paper we have been given we will have to ration, he says.
He says that there has been a shortage ever since he started in the Armed Forces in January. He is concerned that there may be problems with hygiene among the soldiers because they do not have soap.
JUST A LITTLE: Little soap means that conscripts cannot wash their hands properly, which makes them afraid of getting sick inside the barracks. Photo: Heiko Junge, NTB
The hygiene of soldiers is very important for them to be able to function in their everyday lives. The last thing we want is for conscripts to get sick and not be able to function in their service. A lack of soap for washing bedrooms and common areas means that the rooms are not cleaned well enough, which in turn leads to unhygienic conditions when you live so close to each other, says Ramdal.
To remedy the situation, the conscripts have applied to be allowed to empty the garbage once a day instead of twice so as not to waste the few garbage bags they have.
We lack a lot of this in everyday life, where we live and spend large parts of the day, so it is a bit frustrating that we do not have access to much of what we lack, he says.
For company shop steward Sigurd Ramdal, a lot of time is spent trying to fix this problem, valuable time that he would rather spend on other matters that are important to the conscripts.
A lot of our time in TVO (Shop Stewardship Scheme) is spent trying to fix this problem, time that we would rather spend on improving the everyday life and education of the conscripts. We fully understand that this is due to a lack of new framework agreements and that this takes some time, but this is not just a big problem for two people, it is a problem for the entire battalion
ACTION: The soldiers have had to buy soap and paper towels themselves in order to have something to wash their hands and rooms with. Photo: Lise Åserud, NTB
Ramdal and the other conscripts are also irritated by seeing pallets of soap and paper towels in the mess hall and office premises, which they themselves are not allowed to use.
Lieutenant Colonel Lars Fossberg is the deputy commander of the Training Regiment in the Army, and writes in an email to the Norwegian Defence Forum that the framework agreements for consumables expired in early autumn 2023, and responsibility for purchasing is being transferred to Defence Materiel.
The fact that the soldiers experience better access to consumables at the mess hall than the barracks may be due to the fact that Defence Materiel has its own framework agreement for purchasing consumables for the locations where they are active through the state's purchasing scheme. This applies, among other things, to the mess hall building at Skjold,Fossberg writes.
He also confirms that the departments at Skjold must cover their needs with local purchases.
Press officer at the Norwegian Defence Materiel Agency Hilde Tank-Nielsen writes in an email to forum that the Norwegian Defence Materiel Agency (FMA) is currently without a framework agreement for consumables.
A new contract was awarded just before the summer holidays this year. Due to two complaints to the Complaints Board for Public Procurement (KOFA) , the new agreement has not been signed.
DIFFERENTIAL TREATMENT: The exhibition building and the commanding officer's office have pallets of paper towels that conscripts do not have access to. Photo: Henrik Sataøen, Forsvarets forum
She writes in a new email to the forum that KOFA has concluded that there is a violation of the regulations, which entails the right and obligation to correct this error and that they are now conducting a new evaluation.
FMA Procurement is now conducting a new evaluation in the competition in line with KOFA's decision. When this is completed, a new award will be made. Our intention is to have a contract ready for tendering tentatively in mid-December, provided that there are no new complaints about the award, Tank-Nielsen concludes.
Source: Forsvarets forum
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