Conservative city councilperson and former Reykjavík mayor Vilhjálmur Þ. Vilhjálmsson defended his remarks about the funding of the expansion of a golf course, where he said golfing could be a fine diversion for the unemployed.
Vilhjálmsson told Vísir that his words had been misinterpretted – that he wasn’t saying golf could replace work, but that it could provide a relaxing past time for those who are out of work.
He went on further to point out that the golf club in question had said that a number of unemployed city residence had played there last summer. He also added that when Leftist-Green councilperson Þorleifur Gunnlaugsson proposed free admission to city swimming pools for the unemployed, no one objected.
City council’s conservative majority approved funding 230 million ISK to the city golf club’s expansion yesterday. While they pointed out that the agreement to fund the expansion had been made when the leftists were in power in 2006, leftists argued that with the economic collapse and budget cuts having to be made, that different priorities need to be in order.
An online survey conducted by Vísir shows that 75% of respondents were against the funding of the golf course expansion.