However, reading the text of your letter, I find many inaccuracies that at least I would say are misinformation as a whole. You know, of course, as the ancient Romans said that the written word remains.
I would like to answer the questions submitted to inform you and other citizens who would like to be properly and honestly informed about these 6 months of work in the Municipality of Sotira.
The information is something that in any case we promote, and in 10-15 days we will upload the dynamic website of the Municipality, which will be two-way information with the citizen but also from October our first newspaper will be published. So, the information will be frequent and will not let the "cafe conversations" and the "parrots" rage.
Before answering the questions, however, I would like to emphasize that normally the first 6 months were given special importance to the organization of our Municipality which due to the insignificant staff and the non-organization but also the change from Community Council to Municipality, had to create the right basis to we can function as a City Hall. So, an Accounting Department, an Archives Department, a Construction Department, a Workers Department, a Citizen Service Department and a Civil Marriage Department have been created. With two more staff, I estimate that City Hall will produce at the desired level.
The change in both productivity and mentality is obvious to those who visited the City Hall recently. This effort is continuous and will cover other areas of the Municipality.
In this case, however:
1. We did receive the amount of € 612.000 on 2/1/2012 even though the € 50.000 were non-cash checks and the € 150.000 creditors paid in the following months. So in fact we received about € 400.000, which was the loans (€ 420.000) that day.
Although the sponsorship was estimated at € 850.000 in the first 6 months we received only € 150.000 from the government, nevertheless we keep the funds of the Municipality at the same level due to the correct economic policy that we follow. Even today we do not know what the sponsorship will be from the state and so logically we have not proceeded with projects.
2. As for the salaries and allowances of the Mayor and the Municipal Councilors, these are determined by the Law on Municipalities and it is up to each of them to decide whether he will get the amount he is entitled to or less. We all understand the finances of the state and we all worry. We are certainly not the highest paid Municipal Authority as you say. The Mayor gets what the Mayor of Deryneia and the other newly established Municipalities get. The Municipal Councilors get what they get and those of Deryneia and have a difference of € 100 from another Municipality is negligible if one takes into account that the other Municipalities are full or even overstaffed while most of our councilors have become working 3-4 hours daily for the Municipality due to lack of staff that we have and with missions determined by the Mayor.
In addition, every month the Municipal Councilors offer at events and charitable purposes and pay their own hosting costs with unanimous decisions. It is also worth mentioning the high cost of their travel and transportation expenses, for which they are not given any additional allowance. As for the amount you mention, this is also inaccurate and is € 9.600 per month. However, neither the candidate for Mayor nor the candidate for municipal council raised this issue before the elections! The point, however, is to compare pay to productivity as we all know, not pay per se.
3. As for the Mayor's car, the only decision taken by the Municipal Council is the purchase of a single-cab vehicle (!) So that the employees' private vehicles are not used during working hours.
4. As for the projects, you should know that previously the projects were done by the Prefect while now they are done by the City Hall which receives the state sponsorship for this purpose. However, as I mentioned above, instead of € 850.000, we got only € 150.000 in the first half and we still do not have the final amount. So, by what logic should we proceed with projects at a time when our budget unfortunately forbids it?
Every sensible citizen monitors economic development and acts accordingly. We got to the point of listening to the news in the morning and by noon the data was changing for the worse. Respecting, therefore, the citizen's money, we did not "reopen" because we wanted firm steps and no show. Projects involving European funds such as the multiplier you mention (again inaccuracies) are progressing without any delay and will start next September.
But what is the value of a building without the appropriate organization of the youth that will use it? So, from now on we have proceeded in the process of organizing the youth to get the building the value that suits it.
5. Some projects, such as social sports fields, new stadium, square, etc. have been frozen by the government but we as "good guys" do not put it down but claim as a whole the Mayor with the Municipal Council, with our meetings with competent Ministers or officials, , what better under the current economic conditions.
We have already requested the creation of a track of international standards for motorcycle athletes, a regional stadium of classical sports, renovation of the old stadium, bypass road of the area of "boilers", road of the 100.000nd Elementary School, we are moving forward with the new beaches, etc. Byzantine Museum, we proceed with a similar program for the colocasia and finally the proper operation of the water supply that will bring us savings of € XNUMX per year.
We have corrected the plans for the sewer and we have made savings in excess of € 800.000 with these corrections. All this will be explained at the next Pandemic Gathering where we will have more time.
This is done thanks to the efforts of the Mayor, the Municipal Council and the minimal staff we have. Really, how many staff do other town halls of the same population have? Even if this is a pioneer, to manage, that is, to operate under-staffed and to use the Municipal Councilors for employees!
6. Garbage is indeed one of the major issues of our Municipality. Although I had expressed my opinion over time, unfortunately nothing happened. We have already contacted a consultant and the whole issue will be put on a new footing. We have applied for a green spot so as not to create the effects of the garbage dump in the livestock area. Unfortunately the process takes time.
It's not just "I'm finishing a space and it's over". In addition to the green point from September-October we start a new process where the separation of garbage will be done from the source (home). This will help to make serious savings (at least € 100.000 per year) with the result that the end of garbage will be reduced and order will be put in order on this serious issue.
7. Regarding the issue of highlighting the tourist value of Sotira, I do not think there was a previous Authority that within 6 months had demonstrated work on the beach. Within 7 months there will be 2 new organized beaches that some people recently mocked us for "shaking the soil".
Until next year there will be 2 more organized beaches. I met with the University of Indianapolis in America and in May 2013 they will come to work together to promote at least one beach as a pioneer and model beach in Pancypria. It takes a little patience and the results will be there to see them.
As for the advantages of Sotira, these were said 7 months ago in the election campaign and they are in my program. We follow this program and we will implement it with steady and planned steps, with projects and not words. I also do not think that the previous Authority had so many meetings with investors who are interested, in the midst of an economic crisis, please, to build a hotel unit in the coastal area of the Municipality of Sotira. Is it random?
8. As for the coastal park and of course we appreciate the information you gave us, we then proceeded as a Community Council in its design and construction. There have been 3 very successful events in the beach park in the last month and next week the kiosk will open.
9. Unwritten rural roads: We have already met a month ago with the District Director of the Land Registry on this issue and we expect to start soon with consent for registration of these roads. Relevant requests have also been forwarded to the parliamentary parties. As for Leonida Street (now Spyrou Kyprianou) as you know very well (and I do not understand why you mentioned it in your letter) it was built by the Prefect and you should contact him and not the City Hall.
10. On the subject of staff, there is also a special branch of study at the Universities, Personnel Management, and no one "takes an x-ray" and starts firing! There are employees who were employed 20 and 30 years ago.
So what do you suggest? Should we fire them? So let me inform you that the staff started from a scale of 1-10 and is now at 8 thanks to the organization that took place, thanks to the seminars they have been encouraged to attend, thanks to the meetings that the Mayor has with them improving their performance, mentality and their productivity. Staying beyond their working hours to do their job is a good sign of change. As for their salary, there is an exaggeration in that as well.
The construction-technical service department to inform that we have bought services that cost us € 4.000- € 5.000 until June and building permits have been issued and the Municipality of Sotiras will receive € 140000. So what do you suggest we go to the Municipality of Deryneia? In addition, it is not only the issuance of new building permits but also the final approval certificates that is a heavy workload. As for your views on the local Plan are welcome and provided they are in writing in the special forms (as a process) will be taken into account in further planning with the Consulting Office.
Finally, let me reiterate that constructive criticism is welcome and welcome. The leveling criticism and the unfair complaints, however, do not help our Municipality or the Municipal Authority and it is also untimely.
I know very well that a lot has to be done so that we can be a Municipality in essence and not in the letter but on the other hand if you do not take care of the proper organization of the human staff so that you can produce we will not be efficient. We follow this policy to this day. That is why I call on everyone to be a little patient and the projects will come slowly, even with the financial crisis.
Our goal is the steady steps with prudence and logic, which will bring about the correctly oriented development, without big mouths and empty promises of grandiose projects. Our goal is the development of our Municipality through projects that will fill and not empty our funds.
The Municipality of Sotiras, as I said before the elections, has a perspective and can become self-sufficient and generate income for a better future for us and our children.