Town gets that sinking feeling

2005-05-26 14:21

Kiruna - Sweden's northernmost town is preparing to move its city centre elsewhere to save it from sinking into the ground due to gigantic cracks created by iron ore mining.

The town of Kiruna, 145km beyond the Arctic Circle in Swedish Lappland, has co-existed peacefully with its mining industry for a century, but alarm bells were sounded after researchers predicted that it could sink into the earth as a result of the mining.

"We have to move all major buildings, the railroad, the railroad station, the terminal, the newly-built highway, 1 000 apartments with 1 700 inhabitants, water and sewage systems, electrical systems, and streets," town spokesperson Kjell-Aake Hallden said. "Quite a task for a town of 23 500 inhabitants," he said.

Only the railroad, the train station and highway are in immediate danger, but nobody knows how the cracks will spread, so decisions need to be taken about the rest within 18 months, he said.

Kiruna is surrounded by stunning nature, and within view of Sweden's highest mountain, Kebnekaise. It enjoys perpetual daylight between late May and mid-July, and gets no sun at all during six weeks in the winter.

The town centre is a curious mixture of indifferent shops and grey, characterless apartment buildings, interspersed with beautiful old wooden houses.

Its church, a light-flooded stunning red wooden building with carvings and gilded statues, was voted Sweden's most beautiful building in 2001.

"Some buildings have a high cultural value," said Karl Wikstroem, who is responsible for quality and legislative matters at LKAB, the state-owned mining company, which will pay for the bulk of the move.

"For others it's perhaps not worth it," he said.

Old wooden houses, the pride of Kiruna, will be moved on big trailers, while larger buildings, like the bulky city hall, will be cut into pieces to be moved.

Feelings are mixed among Kiruna's population.

Although many jobs have been created in tourism, space research and administrative services, the mine remains the city's main employer with 1 700 workers and many more jobs indirectly dependent on it.

"Most people are positive," adds Annali Jaako, who works in the local tourist office. "They see this as an opportunity to do things differently, better."

Nylund knows that if he gets his way, the town may have to move again in the future, maybe in 50 years.

"It comes down to a question of philosophy. Is a city structure eternal or is it an ongoing process?"

The question would resolve itself if Kiruna gave up mining one day, as it nearly did during the world steel crisis in the 1970s.

But today this does not look likely. The market for iron ore is booming, and prices have nearly doubled in the past 12 months thanks to the rapid industrialisation of many Asian countries.

- AFP