Eesti in brief - 2012-02-02

  • 2012-02-01

By Jan. 30, 682,667 people had been enumerated online during the ongoing Estonian census; this is 52 percent of the estimated population of Estonia, reports LETA. The census could be completed online only until Jan. 31. In percentage terms, participation rates are the highest in Tartu county (59 percent), in Harju county (58 percent) and Tallinn (57 percent). The census is conducted until March 31. During the first month (Dec. 31, 2011 to Jan. 31, 2012), permanent residents of Estonia could complete the census online. Those who do not participate in the e-census will be visited by an enumerator in the period from Feb. 16 to March 31, 2012.

Piet Boerefijn, the head of the Food Bank charity, estimated that the amount of food that is allowed to rot and to be thrown away in Estonia may equal that in wealthy European countries, reports Aripaev Online. In January the European Commission published official statistics, according to which up to 50 percent of usable food products are wasted in the European Union – 89 million tons per year, 179 kilograms per resident. On Jan. 26, the head of the Estonian Food Association Sirje Potisepp noted that in Estonia, throwing away food is not yet as great a problem as in the wealthy European countries. The Estonian Food Bank, on the other hand, sees that this is a growing problem and is already of considerable concern. “We need to differentiate the amount of food thrown away commercially and that thrown away by individuals,” said Boerefijn. “It would be misleading to think that Estonian households would be drastically different from the European average,” he noted, adding that a large volume of food fit for consuming is thrown away every day, while thousands of Estonian families have great need for it. The Food Bank was founded in March 2010 by the Estonian-Dutch charity foundation Paikeselill (Sunflower) and by Swedbank.

Estonian authorities have raised the possibility of introducing a ban on heavy vehicles traveling on Estonian roads on Fridays in order to reduce the occurrence of traffic accidents, but said that it certainly won’t happen before autumn, reports Postimees Online. Interior Minister Ken-Marti Vaher said that he would propose that the traffic committee discuss the re-introduction of the Friday ban. Highway Board PR department senior specialist Allan Kasesalu said that the Board intends to commission a study on the possibility of restricting heavy vehicles traffic and the effects it would bring. “The study should be completed by autumn and after that we will adopt the position whether and what we will do in the future,” said Kasesalu. “The traffic committee won’t discuss restricting heavy vehicles before the study is completed.” A traffic ban on vehicles with a length of 12 meters, and trucks with trailers, on Fridays from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. was in force from December 2007 to April 2008 and was abolished since the legal chancellor stated that the ban was not implemented correctly and the order of such bans was not determined.