With the aim of settling important issues concerning the reform of local self-government, the Ministry of the Interior discussed today in the Parliamentary Committee of the Interior, amendments to the law on Provincial Self-Government Organizations (EAO).
The Home Affairs Committee decided to approve only two individual changes in next Thursday's Plenary and review the rest after the June 9 election. At the same time, he sent the message that he was not going to pre-election approve any other amendments concerning the reform, expressing discomfort with the delay with which they came.
Members of Parliament expressed particular concern about the transfer of land development licensing authority from the 30 existing urban planning and building authorities to the five EAOs. The amending bill calls for the suspension of receiving applications from June 7 until July 1, 2024, when the EAOs will also begin to function as urban planning authorities. This period will provide an opportunity for existing employees who have been detached to move.
The MPs, after pointing out the delay that already exists in the examination of applications in view of the transfer of responsibilities, expressed concern about the suspension of the process, considering that this would greatly affect the economy and society. The solution they preferred is to continue receiving the applications from the municipalities without examining them, with the aim of transferring them from July 1 to the EAOs. The Commission also requested information from the competent Ministry on pending town planning and building permits.
The Senior Administrative Officer at the Ministry of the Interior, Kakia Dimitriou, said that the burden of preparations has fallen on the licensing department, the personnel to be seconded have been identified and that they have requested a suspension of receiving applications in order to move this personnel.
Mrs. Dimitriou presented to the Committee other articles of immediate priority. Starting with article 5 regarding the composition of the EAO, he said that there is an amendment regarding where the six representatives of the Union of Communities will come from. According to the amendment, the President of the Community Council convenes, as soon as possible after the election of the members of the Council, a meeting which he presides for the purpose of electing among the members the representatives to the EOA.
As for the 10 members from the municipalities, these will be distributed to each province proportionally. One member will be the Mayor and the other members will be elected by the municipal council at its first session.
The third amendment concerns the Municipality of Famagusta in which there are no communities and they should come from the municipal councils.
The Secretary of the Union of the Municipality, Michalis Sokratous, stated that based on the number of members, not all the vice-mayors of a municipality can be represented in the EOAs, but all the Mayors will definitely be represented.
The Committee was also asked the issue of the non-approval of the budgets of the EAOs by the Parliament, something that the MPs of the Interior Committee did not accept. However, they agreed to include a transitional provision for the first six months, so that the budget does not need the approval of the Parliament, for purposes of facilitating the reform.
The Ministry of the Interior was also requested to approve the operation of the temporary coordinating councils so that staff could be seconded and existing staff members could be assigned duties from July 1 until the organization's permanent council is in place.
In his statements after the end of the Committee, its President, AKEL Member of Parliament Aristos Damianou, expressed his annoyance that even today amending and implementing reform bills are still coming. They admitted that there is a reasonable need for amendments and at any time they are ready to vote for the necessary changes to improve the implementation of the laws. However, he said that it is not right to vote on last-minute changes and they should put a full stop and continue with the other issues after the election.
He noted that for the next Plenary they will accept only two partial changes concerning the six-month transitional ability of provincial organizations to approve their budgets together with the executive and a special transitional provision for the people who will be in charge of the services until there is a normal appointment through normal procedures.
He added that all remaining outstanding issues would be discussed as a matter of priority immediately after the June 9 elections.
Mr. Damianou added that the Committee unanimously decided to submit a written question to the Minister of the Interior on the possibility of the EOAs to implement the reform on the occasion of the very important issue of licensing.
DISY Member of Parliament Nikos Sykas sounded the alarm about the number of late applications for licenses that already exist in the competent self-government authorities, also due to the pending transfer of responsibilities to the EOA.
He added that they asked the relevant Minister to prioritize the issue and asked for written assurances. He estimated that as of July 1 there will be around 40 delayed applications and noted that both the executive and legislative powers should focus on solving the issue.
He also expressed disappointment at the delay in the regulatory changes for the reform stating that even tomorrow the Council of Ministers will come to approve legislative provisions.
The Member of Parliament of DIKO Panikos Leonidou said that there were delays that did not arise recently but from the first moment when an extension was given to implement the reform. He said, however, that the Government should have pointed out the problems and loopholes in the legislation so that the elections could be held in a more orderly manner. He added that the Interior Committee as a whole is ready to discuss all issues to avoid mistakes and omissions at the expense of citizens.
Source: KYPE
