Today in Sweden: A roundup of the latest news on Wednesday
Fire flares up again at Gothenburg water park, 'unacceptable' that Palestinian-origin MP stays as independent, and other news from Sweden on Wednesday.
Major issues at building site of burned Gothenburg water park
A building site inspection at the Oceana water park last April uncovered major shortcomings, broadcaster TV4 has reported, with several laws broken and poor checks on who was working at the site.
The building was hit by a major fire on Monday, with the fire flaring up again late on Tuesday night.
The report showed that NCC, the main contractor at the site, had no fewer than 58 sub-contractors, three of whom came from overseas. None of the overseas companies was registered with Sweden's Work Environment Authority to work on the project, which is against the law.
Several workers were caught working without the ID06 card required for being on the site, of which two had never had a card issued. Of 168 workers checked, 25 had not logged in to work, 22 lacked identity documents, and four had no right to work in Sweden.
At 10pm on Tuesday night, the rescue services called in extra reinforcements after the fire flared up again.
Swedish vocabulary: underleverantörer - subcontractors
Social Democrat leader says it is 'unacceptable' that El-Haj stays as independent
Social Democrat leader Magdalena Andersson has criticised the Palestinian-origin politician Jamal El-Haj for keeping his place in parliament despite the Social Democrat party calling for him to stand down.
"I hope he will find some sense and step down from his position," she said. "It's obviously unacceptable. Everyone gives a candidate assurance when they stand as a candidate for the Social Democrats and that requires you to be a member of the Social Democrats. That means he should stand down from his role."
Swedish vocabulary: besviken - disappointed
Sweden Democrats call for EU language to be stripped from Swedish constitution
The far-right Sweden Democrats have stepped up their eurosceptic rhetoric, calling for all language about EU membership to be removed from Sweden's constitution.
"Anyone who's been in a negotiation knows that you have to be ready to leave the negotiating table to get your desired result. That's why we want to remove the language about Sweden's membership of the EU from the constitution," the party's leader Jimmie Åkesson and its top MEP candidate Charlie Weimers wrote in a debate article in the Aftonbladet newspaper.
"This will send a signal that when push comes to shove Sweden is ready to leave, and Brussels can't afford to lose more net contributors."
The party has also called for Sweden's parliament to vote through what it calls a "referendum lock".
"All significant transfers of power [from a national to an EU level], or new or significant requirements for payments must be subject to a referendum," the two wrote.
Swedish vocabulary: förhandlingsposition - negotiating position
Swedish prison service declares 'crisis' amid cell shortage
The Swedish Prison and Probation Service has declared a stabsläge or "crisis mode", launching a national incident management team to deal with the pressing lack of cells in Swedish prisons.
There have been a lack of cells in Swedish prisons for some time, but the situation has become worse over the past year. A lack of space in pre-trial detention facilities means that people awaiting trial are often held in temporary holding cells for longer than usual.
According to the prison service's own forecast, the authority's lack of prison spaces is only going to get worse, meaning that it will become more difficult to find spots both for people awaiting trial and for those who have already received their sentence.
Swedish vocabulary: stabsläge - crisis mode/state of preparedness
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Major issues at building site of burned Gothenburg water park
A building site inspection at the Oceana water park last April uncovered major shortcomings, broadcaster TV4 has reported, with several laws broken and poor checks on who was working at the site.
The building was hit by a major fire on Monday, with the fire flaring up again late on Tuesday night.
The report showed that NCC, the main contractor at the site, had no fewer than 58 sub-contractors, three of whom came from overseas. None of the overseas companies was registered with Sweden's Work Environment Authority to work on the project, which is against the law.
Several workers were caught working without the ID06 card required for being on the site, of which two had never had a card issued. Of 168 workers checked, 25 had not logged in to work, 22 lacked identity documents, and four had no right to work in Sweden.
At 10pm on Tuesday night, the rescue services called in extra reinforcements after the fire flared up again.
Swedish vocabulary: underleverantörer - subcontractors
Social Democrat leader says it is 'unacceptable' that El-Haj stays as independent
Social Democrat leader Magdalena Andersson has criticised the Palestinian-origin politician Jamal El-Haj for keeping his place in parliament despite the Social Democrat party calling for him to stand down.
"I hope he will find some sense and step down from his position," she said. "It's obviously unacceptable. Everyone gives a candidate assurance when they stand as a candidate for the Social Democrats and that requires you to be a member of the Social Democrats. That means he should stand down from his role."
Swedish vocabulary: besviken - disappointed
Sweden Democrats call for EU language to be stripped from Swedish constitution
The far-right Sweden Democrats have stepped up their eurosceptic rhetoric, calling for all language about EU membership to be removed from Sweden's constitution.
"Anyone who's been in a negotiation knows that you have to be ready to leave the negotiating table to get your desired result. That's why we want to remove the language about Sweden's membership of the EU from the constitution," the party's leader Jimmie Åkesson and its top MEP candidate Charlie Weimers wrote in a debate article in the Aftonbladet newspaper.
"This will send a signal that when push comes to shove Sweden is ready to leave, and Brussels can't afford to lose more net contributors."
The party has also called for Sweden's parliament to vote through what it calls a "referendum lock".
"All significant transfers of power [from a national to an EU level], or new or significant requirements for payments must be subject to a referendum," the two wrote.
Swedish vocabulary: förhandlingsposition - negotiating position
Swedish prison service declares 'crisis' amid cell shortage
The Swedish Prison and Probation Service has declared a stabsläge or "crisis mode", launching a national incident management team to deal with the pressing lack of cells in Swedish prisons.
There have been a lack of cells in Swedish prisons for some time, but the situation has become worse over the past year. A lack of space in pre-trial detention facilities means that people awaiting trial are often held in temporary holding cells for longer than usual.
According to the prison service's own forecast, the authority's lack of prison spaces is only going to get worse, meaning that it will become more difficult to find spots both for people awaiting trial and for those who have already received their sentence.
Swedish vocabulary: stabsläge - crisis mode/state of preparedness
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