Filenews 10 October 2022
Regardless of any difficulties in June 2024, our country will be marching with the new model of Local Government, said from Larnaca the Minister of Interior Nikos Nouris because, as he noted, "we owe it to the citizens".
So far, Mr. Nouris said, "the only problem that remains outstanding concerns the free area of Famagusta and the difficulty of assuming the position of head of the coordinating bodies as well as what the headquarters will be during the transition period". "The peculiarity in the free area of Famagusta is well known, since the metropolitan municipality is the occupied Municipality of Famagusta, which is not part of the reform," he added.
In his address, the Minister of Interior Nikos Nouris at the regional meeting in Larnaca on the progress of the implementation of the Local Government Reform said that "today's meeting is part of a series of provincial meetings in all the districts of free Cyprus, on the subject of the progress towards the implementation of the reform of Local Government".
These meetings, Mr. Nouris said, "are meetings for solving issues and problems since we have already entered the process of transition to the new era, adopting what the new legislation requires".
The Minister of Interior said that "The new legislative framework has been explained at the Pancyprian conference last May. It is a very voluminous piece of legislation, and it must be experienced by us in order to be able to proceed with the implementation process." "The basic provisions and the roadmap of the new legislations, as well as the actions taken so far by all stakeholders, will then be analyzed by my partners," he noted.
Every new one provokes a reaction, said Mr. Nouris and said that "this process is governed by an extremely pressing timetable, since with the delays that arose at the level of the Parliament, we have practically less than two years left. But we have no choice. In June 2024, we will have before the citizens, the new scheme of Local Government, with all the problems solved".
To strengthen this effort, he said, "we undertook as the Ministry of Interior, among other things, the training of both the elected and the staff of the local authorities, in order to provide the necessary supplies for the smooth and orderly transition to the new operating framework".
According to him, the training program is expected to start next month with a total implementation duration of 30 months, and will be implemented by the Centre of Expertise for Good Governance of the Council of Europe, with the cooperation of the Associations of Municipalities and Communities, as well as the Academy of Public Administration.
In addition, and in parallel with the training program, "the Central Advisory Committee was established and meets at regular intervals, which consists of the Ministries of Interior and Finance, but also your own representatives - the Unions of Municipalities and Communities".
The Commission "has already issued circulars both to the councils for the management of common affairs of the municipalities, as well as to the temporary coordinating councils concerning the provincial organizations, because there we believe that the greatest effort will be needed since we are talking about a completely new institution".
At the same time, he said, "the working groups of the Central Advisory Committee have been set up and started work on various topics such as personnel issues, information systems, development licensing, while in the near future the groups on education and budget issues will also meet. "
He said that in addition to our own efforts, due to the recognized lack of previous experience in the matter, "we also addressed the European Union, asking for help and support, mainly in matters of expertise and technocratic approach".
"It is in this context that the cooperation achieved with the Greek Ministry of Interior, after a series of contacts and meetings, is part of the framework. The agreement reached will be put before the Council of Ministers at its next meeting in order to sign the interstate agreement for the assignment to Mr. Yiannis Karagiannis, the Director of the Central Union of Municipalities of Greece, the role of coordinator for the issues related to the reform", he said.
Mr. Nouris said that "Mr. Karagiannis will be accompanied by a series of experts and technocrats of the Ministry of Interior of the Hellenic Republic to assist us in matters of organizational charts, staff, but budgeting based on their own experience from the implementation of similar plans of the Local Government in Greece, such as that of the "Kallikratis" program. This help is provided thanks to the response of my friend the Minister of Interior Makis Voridis, whom I publicly warmly thank, he said.
So far, Nikos Nouris said, "the only problem that remains as a pending one concerns the Free area of Famagusta and the difficulty of assuming the position of head of the coordinating bodies as well as what will be the seat during the transitional period.
The Ministry of Interior, he said, "after exhausting all possibilities through dialogue with all the local authorities involved in Famagusta, and because it was not possible to reach a consensus to resolve the issue for this transitional period of two years, we were obliged to forward a relevant amending bill to the House of Representatives with which the Ministry proposes the obvious, always for the transitional period. The seat should be in Paralimni and the temporary body should be chaired by the Mayor of the largest Municipality, namely the Municipality of Paralimni".
The Minister of The Interior expressed the hope "that very soon this unique pending issue that has been presented will be finalized so as not to record an additional delay".
He stressed that "The problems and challenges we encounter and will encounter are many but in a good mood I am sure that they will be solved. That is why we are here today. To respond to the concerns on issues of a political as well as a technocratic nature that may concern you".
He said that "In this effort we are not dogmatic. The initiatives of all of you are welcome, but as long as they are within the framework of legality and without there being a diversion from the provisions of the legislation".
He recalled "that at such a time last year some people mocked us, when together with the parliamentary parties and your Associations we commit ourselves that by the end of last year the reform would be passed, despite the disagreements recorded at the time".
"I will claim the same now and personally I will commit that regardless of any difficulties in June 2024, our country will march with the new model of Local Government. Because we just owe it to the citizens," he said.
CNA
