The Norwegian Burma Committee, among the NGOs in the Human Rights House in Oslo, is critical of the City Council of Stavanger, on the west coast of Norway, who welcomes Total, the French oil giant remaining the biggest Western investor in Burma, as sponsor of its huge 2008 Cultural City project. Leif Johan Sevland, Major of Stavanger, waves off all protests. (3-SEP-05)
Total´s tradition of sponsoring culture
Stavanger, the capital of Norway´s huge offshore industry, has already accepted Total as sponsor of many of its biggest cutural institutions and events in recent years, among them last year´s jazz festival ´Maijazz 2004,´ last year´s ´Stavanger Tall Ships Race´ and also the city´s French-Norwegian Culture Centre. Total sponsors cultural events and institutions also elsewhere in the country, but the bulk of its culture sponsorship budget ends up in and around Stavanger. Dag Olaf Ringe, the company´s Director of Information in Norway, comments that “we accept that there are different opinions about our presence in Burma, and also, of course, people´s right to have those, but I would also like to point out that it is Total´s headquarters in Paris who deals with Burma and that the company´s Norwegian branch is only a sub-division of this. Ringe does not want to comment on the fact that it is this subdivision who is in contact with the City of Stavanger about a possible sponsorship deal and should thus also respond to any questions regarding this contact.
-Big oil companies like Total postpone Burmese democracy
1991 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi (left) has made it clear that big oil companies like Total´s investments in the country are among the biggest obstacles to a process of democratisation. Total´s investments works as a direct sponsorship to the very repressive regime and the country´s population is made to suffer. Suu Kyi, who will soon have spent ten years in house arrest won an overwhelming victory att he country´s last elections in 1990. Ever since, however, the country´s military authorities, have chosen to ignore the election respult and the will of the people.
-We will stick to our core values, no matter what
Marianne Melfald, Director of Communications for Stavanger Cultural City 2008, emphasises that the project´s core values; freedom of speech, tolerance and hospitality, will continue to guide the project, also when it comes to selecting its sponsors. Melfald does not want to comment the criticism that has been raised “for as long as we are in dialogue with specific companies, but repeats that the project will never compromise on its core values.
-What´s in it for the sponsor. Of course, a whole lot
Marte Graff Jenssen, Information Coordinator of the Norwegian Burma Committee, argues that accepting a sponsorship agreement with Total is a way of legitimising the company, no matter if such a contract is only agreed with the Norwegian sub-division of the company. With internationally operating companies, one has to look across one´s own borders to evaluate whether orr not to accept any kind o contact and cooperation. Stavanger has made an enormous effort to promote itself as a city of culture, but culture always carries an ethical component which also has to be considered quite carefully. Besides, sponsorships work both ways. There is always something in it for the sponsor as well. In this case, it looks suspiciously like a company trying to whitewash a pretty dirty reputation through sponsoring something entirely positive, absolutely uncontroversial and to the benefit of everyone.
-The pressure is on
As reported on this website a few months ago, the Norwegian Burma Committee, together with the Norwegian Church Aid and the organisation the Future in Our Hands, reported Total to the Minister for Finance, Per Kristian Foss, for him to initiate an investigation of the ethical acceptability of the Norwegian Petroleum Fund´s investments in Total, given the latter´s activities in Burma. While this investigation has yet to reach a conclusion, the Petroleum Fund has already withdrawn its shares from one other company. It looks likely that Total is next in line. Attention has not gone away from the issue, and whatever new government Norway gets after its Parliamentary elections on 12 September, the pressure will still be on. So far, however, this pressure does not seem to have reached Stavanger.
