Dherynia municipality on Thursday expressed reservations over its merger with neighbouring local authorities as part of local government reform, arguing that its residents are being looked down at by others in the area for insisting on maintaining friendly relations with Turkish Cypriots and for having different aspirations for the growth of the district.
The municipality joined the bandwagon of opposition to the merger of local government authorities, arguing that the government ought to take into serious consideration the particularities of communities that sit on the buffer zone, and provide for solutions to issues that may arise in the case of a settlement of the Cyprus problem.
Mayor Andros Karayiannis, in a letter to Interior Minister Constantinos Petrides, expressed his reservations and concerns over the merging of municipalities.
The reform, he said, ought to aim at the upgrading of local government and improvement of the quality of life of residents through democratic procedures.
Despite the fact there was a need to widen the responsibilities of local government to ensure financial and administrative independence, “reducing the number of municipalities should not be an end in itself,” he said.
The objectives as explained, made sense, but still not altogether clear. “We believe that if the bill does not include details of operation, there will be a lot of disruption to local government, which instead of being upgraded, would see their institutions seriously damaged, creating large and cumbersome organisations.”
Karayiannis said Dherynia municipality, in its 24 years of operation, has proved that despite its small staff, has the ability and know-how to maintain itself as an independent entity.
Unlike other municipalities, he said, Dherynia’s finances are in good shape and development “very balanced” due to its local plan introduced after 2000.
“Economic independence can be achieved through a proper study for the allocation of funds that now end up in the central state, such as road tax, fuel taxes, corporate tax, VAT, hunting licenses and others,” he said.
Karayiannis also said that Dherynia was willing to continue and expand its cooperation through clustering of services with neighbouring municipalities and communities, but by maintaining its independence, local character and identity.
“Dherynia does not want to disappear as a municipality or be rejected by richer municipalities that have completely different needs and ambitions,” he added.
Dherynia residents also have traditionally very good relations with Famagusta in the north, and both Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot employers, and many used to work at the town’s harbour, railway and the tourism industry before 1974, he said.
“As a natural extension of Famagusta, Dherynia developed both culturally and in infrastructure because of its proximity to Famagusta,” he said.
After 1974, he said, the development in Dherynia remained stagnant, while neighbouring areas, which until 1974 were unknown to tourists, began to attract visitors, who for decades had been hosted by Famagusta.
The mayor said in his letter that the surrounding areas saw rapid development after benefiting economically from the loss of “the tourist lung of the Famagusta district, causing economic and social inequalities, as several people were housed in refugee settlements, as in Dherynia.”
“The sudden tourist development created a feeling of ‘superiority’ to the rest of the residents, while the refugees, deprived of their property in Famagusta, were trying to stand on their two feet feeling strongly injustice and contempt,” he said.
This inequality, he said, has stigmatised Dherynia residents “who as industrious, active and conscientious people have pushed the development of the rest of the free Famagusta district but never ceased to feel oppression and injustice despite their diligence and honesty.”
The idea of the merger of Dherynia with neighbouring municipalities that are now holiday resorts, Karayiannis said, “brings back memories of the post-invasion situation and the difficult moments they have been through as a workforce in their workplaces.”
He said that Dherynia continued to maintain contact with Turkish Cypriots after 1974, “while others despised us for our friendly attitude towards our Turkish Cypriot neighbours.”
The merger of Dherynia with “economically robust” tourist municipalities would create economic disparities, he said, to which the people of Dherynia would react, “as such a development would move us away from our beloved Famagusta.”
The mayor said that Dherynia’s long-standing support for the efforts to resolve the Cyprus problem made them very vulnerable, since after a settlement, “we may have to reconsider our union with neighbouring occupied municipalities or communities.”
