The ongoing construction of the pilot of the eastern border barrier fence in Pelkola, Imatra, is an important phase in the project’s progress. The approximately three kilometres long pilot fence located nearby Imatra’s border crossing point is estimated to be complete in summer 2023.
Finland is preparing for extensive influence operations. If the Government makes a decision to centralise applying for international protection, the Border Guard may be tasked with preventing people from entering Finland. Such a situation may arise in the event of an instrumentalised or extensive illegal entry which poses a threat to national security, public order or public health.
− When completed, the barrier fence will meet the requirements set for the duties of the Finnish Border Guard. The technical surveillance system will alert of any persons in the barrier fence area. The fence will prevent any immediate penetration, crossing or underpassing, and slow down and guide people's movement as originally planned. The road to be built will enable the Border Guard to move faster than before in the border area and to react to potential border incidents, says Lieutenant Colonel Jukka Lukkari, Deputy Commander of the Southeast Finland Border Guard District.
The pilot phase is important for the purposes of assessing and establishing the cost level. Costs arise not only from actual construction but also from material procurement, electricity and telecommunications connections, project management and planning, as well as compensations to be paid to landowners.
As far as the pilot is concerned, the basic road structure has been completed. The construction of the fence and the installation of electric and surveillance systems is in progress. The construction of the pilot fence has fallen somewhat behind the target schedule. The initial aim was to have the pilot fence completed by the end of June, but now the target has been postponed by one month. The barrier fence will probably be ready for operational use in August 2023.
− Extensive development of solutions constitutes an integral part of any piloting process, and it takes more time than implementing ready-made detailed plans. One of the objectives was also to find out where the bottlenecks in scheduling lie, so the schedule set for the phase was extremely tight to begin with. More important than keeping the very tight schedule set for the phase is that we can gather enough experience for continuing the project and create functional solutions for implementing the later phases, says Ismo Kurki, Project Manager from the Technical Division of the Border Guard Headquarters.
In Lapland, in the area around the Salla border crossing point, the Border Guard will test a pontoon road solution made of concrete designed for crossing wetlands in August-November 2023. The competitive tendering for fence material delivery, earthmoving contract and concrete pontoon delivery regarding this part of the project is underway. Landowners in the Salla target area have been contacted about the construction of the barrier fence.
The procurement process for finding a provider of project management services for the PRIO 1 stage of the barrier fence project has also been launched. A call for tenders will be sent to companies that have announced their interest in participating and meet the requirements set. The project management to be selected will implement the contracting of the PRIO 1 phase of the barrier fence project and the planning of the PRIO 2 phase.
The project website
The eastern border barrier fence has its own site on our web pages, where we will update information on the progress of the project: The eastern border barrier fence | The Finnish Border Guard (raja.fi)
If you need further information, please contact Project Manager Ismo Kurki, e-mail: [email protected], telephone: +358 (0)295 420 411.
