The barrier to Østre Færge is now lifted again for farmer Hans Ingemann and others who have been affected by a ban on sailing with the private ferry.
The ferry's director, Michael Kousted, who had implemented the ban due to a financial dispute with the farmer, has been surprised by the consequences.
- The extensive media coverage almost created a hysteria, which has affected the residents of Orø and everyone who visits Orø. And they have started taking sides on who is right and who is not. That was not the intention of the ban at all, says Michael Kousted now.
> - Regardless, we will certainly not contribute to doing anything harmful to Orø.
> Michael Kousted, director of Østre Færge
During the period when Hans Ingemann and his collaborators were barred from sailing with Østre Færge, residents of Orø experienced more congestion on the municipal ferry.
And last week, the Ministry of Transport also got involved in the case and sent a letter to Østre Færge, in which the ministry made it clear that the consequence of maintaining the ban could be that the ministry or the municipality would simply take over the route.
The sailing ban meant that agricultural machinery for a period was forced to use the municipal ferry instead. This led to a lack of space and traffic chaos. (Photo: © DR)
Michael Kousted does not believe that his ban contributed to additional pressure on the other ferry, but he acknowledges that it has resulted in bad publicity.
- Regardless, we will certainly not contribute to doing anything harmful to Orø, he says.
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Relieved farmer and hopeful island residents
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Farmer Hans Ingemann looks forward to now being able to transport machinery, straw, and animals to and from the island with Østre Færge. But he is sorry about the trouble his business has been subjected to in recent months.
- In my world, I think it's incredible that if someone doesn't get their way, they can just block other people. So yes, I am sorry about (the whole matter, ed.), he says.
The case has also had a great impact on the other residents of Orø. Because when Hans Ingemann and his collaborators were not allowed to sail with Østre Færge, they instead took up a large portion of the space on the ferry between Orø and Holbæk. And the many agricultural machines and freight carriers on that ferry have created congestion problems, says treasurer of Orø Lokalforum, Nis Svoldgaard.
- Ordinary commuters who had errands in Holbæk or needed to go to work have occasionally not been able to get on because there was no space on the ferry.
So the conflict between the two opposing parties has affected the atmosphere on the entire island, says Nis Svoldgaard.
- Our experience in Orø Lokalforum is that there has been general and widespread dissatisfaction from the citizens. It has been expressed especially in Facebook threads, which have been more or less red-hot.
- And our ferry contact committee, which maintains contact with the ferries and represents the residents of Orø, has been bombarded with dissatisfied emails.
Now Orø Lokalforum hopes that the reopening of Østre Færge to farmer Hans Ingemann and his collaborators means that the residents of Orø can look forward to a normal situation like before, says treasurer Nis Svoldgaard.
- We are very satisfied that the ferry service is running again. It at least alleviates the problem we have seen over the past few months. Whether things will calm down, we can only hope.
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It hasn't been worth the trouble
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The dispute between the two parties concerns some money that Michael Kousted believes his ferry company is owed by Hans Ingemann. The farmer himself, however, denies that he owes money to Michael Kousted or his ferry company.
And Michael Kousted still intends to sort out that outstanding matter. But now without excluding Hans Ingemann from his ferry.
Read also: Can one be a gatekeeper to access an island? Conflict between farmer and ferry director creates traffic chaos ( https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/indland/maa-man-vaere-gatekeeper-paa-adgangen-til-en-oe-konflikt-mellem-landmand-og-faergedirektoer-skaber )
Nevertheless, the ferry director acknowledges that the conflict with the farmer has not been worth all the subsequent fuss:
- No, it hasn't, in the end. I mean, some scratches have appeared on the surface, and now we need to focus on what it's all about, namely transporting people to and from Orø.
- In hindsight, we probably should have done something different, but we had no idea it would generate such media coverage.
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