The outgoing Minister of Interior, Konstantinos Petridis, recently presented the reform of local government.
According to Konstantinos Petridis, the much-discussed proposal has been formulated after a series of consultations and will be submitted to the Plenary Session of the Parliament for a vote.
The greatest interest of the presentation is focused on the issue of the mergers of Municipalities and Communities. "The decisions of the Union of Municipalities, as a result of the intensive consultations between us, are something that shields the reform but also morally and politically binds the state to implement this reform," said Konstantinos Petridis.
17 Municipalities from mergers of 30 Municipalities and 48 Communities
"With the proposal that we present today, we propose the creation of 17 New Municipalities that will come from the mergers of 80 existing Local Authorities, 30 Municipalities and 48 Communities. The population of the municipalities is increasing by 100,000 inhabitants to about 700,000 inhabitants, which is equivalent to about 83% of the population from the current 71%, "said Konstantinos Petridis.
Referring to the criteria by which the decisions were made, Mr. Petridis explains that these are population, social, economic, geographical and developmental.
Two Municipalities in the province of Famagusta
Four municipalities are being created in Nicosia, Larnaca and Limassol, three in Paphos and two in free Famagusta.
The two new Municipalities are proposed as consisting of the following municipal districts:
- Municipality of Ayia Napa - Protaras (Paralimni, Ayia Napa, Sotira, Deryneia)
- Municipality of Kokkinohoria (Avgorou, Liopetri, Frenaros, Acheritou, Achna)
