Filenews 12 November 2021 - by Vassos Vassiliou
Either during the last session of the Plenum of the Parliament, before the Christmas holidays, or in the Plenum after the Epiphany of 2022, the Reform of Local Government will be approved, putting an end to efforts, fermentations and controversies of a decade.
On the most contentious issue (although for citizens it is not the most important) concerning the number of new municipalities, only the Government has made it clear that it does not accept more than 17 entities, while the DIPA allegedly accepts even 14 municipalities.
As far as the revenues of the municipalities are concerned, while they seem to have generated revenues of €120 million. from the licenses, finally, as the president of the Union of Municipalities, Andreas Vyras, told "F", the revenues are limited to €100 million, so a hole of €20 million is created. which needs to be covered.
It is considered positive, however, that an agreement has been reached on the basis of which 60% of the revenues will end up in the Municipalities and the remaining 40% in the District Councils.
For the rest, as the chairman of the House Standing Committee on the Interior, Aristos Damianou, mentioned to "F", all those involved (from the Government and the Parliament to the Local Authorities) put water in their wine on various issues, which facilitates the whole project which will upgrade the quality of life of the citizens, which is the dominant demand, together, of course, with the savings that will also work for the benefit of the citizens.
Most of the objections come from the Union of Communities which, with the reform, loses some 50 of its members, which limits its role.
Yesterday, at the end of the meeting of the Committee on the Interior, Mr Damianou said that the open issues have been limited to about fifteen. He noted that an effort was made by all sides to find convergences, which is reflected in the reduction of open issues.
Referring to the outstanding issues, he said that these concern:
- Some responsibilities and clarification in relation to the management of beaches
- Appointment procedures and disciplinary procedures concerning employees
- Issues related to the management of green areas
- A number of other secondary issues.
At the same time, given the reactions of the communities, he said that everything possible will be done to meet some of the demands, while indicating that it is not legitimate to put ultimatums of threats, in a way that creates the impression that overall and collectively, the intention is not to promote the Reform of Local Government.
"The aim remains a functional regulation that modernizes local self-government for the benefit of local communities, because it constitutes a social necessity", added Mr. Damianou.
