‘NO DRONE ZONE’ sign near the government’s guesthouse in Munkkiniemi, Helsinki. Picture: Tony Öhberg for Finland Today
Have you seen those signs scattered around government buildings in Helsinki that say “NO DRONE ZONE?”
After receiving complaints about the signs, Parliamentary Ombudsman Petri Jääskeläinen has declared that they are a direct violation of the Language Act that in Section 1 clearly states that in this country, Finnish and Swedish are the national languages. Ombudsman Jääskeläinen, whose duties include overseeing the legality of the actions of authorities and officials, passed his judgment today.
The signs don’t include Finnish. Nor Swedish. Only English.
There’s only the prohibitory mark, the text, a map in red and a link to a Finnish website that is supposed to give more info about drones (Too bad, it’s not a touchscreen).
What it lacks is a Finnish description that would go like this: “Miehittämättömän kauko-ohjattavan ilma-aluksen lennättäminen kielletty.”
Indeed, only a Finn could possibly understand this one.
Finnish Transport Safety Agency together with the police started spreading “NO DRONE ZONE” signs in summer 2017.
According to the transport agency, they wanted to inform foreign travelers to leave their drones home.
Or at the hotel.
The transport agency promised the ombudsman to grasp this problem immediately and include the Finnish and Swedish translations as well.
So that finally everybody understands what they are all about.
