THE GOVERNMENT’S plan to restructure local authorities is welcome news, even though it will be a long and difficult undertaking. Interior Minister Neoclis Sylikiotis has said the process, currently in the dialogue stage, will take 10 years to complete – an understandable timeframe given the complexity of the task.
The important thing is that the minister recognises a big need to reform local government and has initiated a dialogue with interested parties, which is expected to last until the municipal elections of 2011. It is also encouraging to see that one of the longest-serving mayors, Strovolos’ Savvas Eliophotou, has already tried to get the debate going by penning two articles about municipal reform and the shape it should take, with the ultimate objective being a good standard of service for all citizens.
A very good point made by Eliophotou was that reform of local government was directly dependent on the modernisation of the central government which currently wields all power. He cited the example of the issuing of town planning and construction permits, in which there was an overlap of authorities between the two tiers of government, but neither provided an efficient service. Municipalities of greater Nicosia proposed the establishment of a central agency to handle all applications 10 years ago, but central government did nothing about it.
There would be many benefits from such a move, the most important being the huge savings. Municipalities could use the extra funds to provide a wider range of services to citizens, but as Eliophotou pointed out, the central government needed to take the decision for this to happen. Perhaps, now that Sylikiotis has embraced the cause, the necessary changes can be made – even though the central government is not the most flexible or adaptable body.
While a central agency would take powers away from local government, the ultimate objective would still be to give more powers to the municipalities. This would be in line with the EU policy, which advocates the decentralisation of power and more authorities being given to local authorities. Again this would be dependent on the ability of central government to modernise and cede powers.
Probably the most important issue that needs to be addressed is the number of municipalities. Greater Nicosia is currently served by seven municipalities which is costly and inefficient. It would be better served by two or three, giving them more funds at their disposal and better able to provide a higher standard of services more competitively. We hope all this will be discussed over the next 18 months and citizens can also contribute to the debate.
