Tomorrow will be Threttándinn, officially the last day of Christmas festive period in Iceland. Something worth knowing, especially if you’re around these parts, is the Nordic House will be holding a karaoke marathon promoted by none other than singer Björk, in an attempt to win back Iceland’s ownership of its own natural resources. The specific aim of the event is collecting the remaining signatures in a petition to put natural resources of the country in public ownership and administration. In fact, as per declaration of Prime Minister Jóhanna Sigurdardóttir, if 35,000 signatures for the petition to revoke Canadian Magma Energy’s acquisition agreement of Icelandic energy company HS Orka will be collected, the authorities will not be able to ignore people’s request. More than 20,000 people joined the initiative by signing in the course of the last months, but around 14,000 signatures are still wanted.
The controversy concerning the Magma deal over Iceland’s energy ownership is another of these contemporary tales of despicable exploitation in the name of profit that are far to common everywhere: a minority of speculators takes advantage of natural resources that should be of public dominion, bypassing basic laws of righteousness at the expenses of the majority — sometimes of a whole country –, often indecently kept in the dark.
The marathon will start tomorrow and will be going for three days, from 15:00 till midnight. The karaoke playlist is available here. Everybody is encouraged to participate! The event is a means to urge people to take action and have their say on this crucial matter. Singer Björk and environmentalist Ómar Ragnarsson are going to perform together in a duet during the marathon, but more surprises are to be expected.
If you want to read more on the controversial acquisition of HS Orka by Magma, the official petition’s site compiled a useful list with articles and documentation.
Photo courtesy of nordichouse.is.