The Minister of the Interior, Konstantinos Ioannou, characterized today as a historic day, as the reform of the Local Government was put into practice and he emphasized that the reform comes to reshape the administrative map of Cyprus and aspires to improve the everyday life of the citizens.
Konstantinos Ioannou held a press conference, in view of the implementation of the Local Government reform, during which he referred to what is changing in municipalities and communities.
"Cyprus is now entering a new era with the amalgamation of Municipalities and Communities, the creation of Community Service Complexes and above all the operation of District Self-Government Organisations. We are now moving from theory to practice, leading Cypriot society to a new form of self-government, clearly improved compared to the existing one, which is expected to have multiple benefits in the medium term for the quality of life of our fellow citizens", Mr. Ioannou pointed out.
In addition, the Minister of the Interior referred to the essence of the reform, saying that "at the level of Municipalities, 63 Communities and 30 Municipalities are merging and creating 20 new Local Government Authorities, with the aim of achieving their administrative and financial autonomy over time, as well as economies of scale through savings". In addition, as he said, the main pursuit remains the modernization of the way the Municipalities operate, so that they respond to the modern and constantly changing needs of the citizens.
Regarding the communities, Konstantinos Ioannou noted that "the reform of the Local Self-Government is expected to be beneficial. Through the operation of 30 Service Provision Complexes and their staffing with qualified personnel, their mode of operation is domesticated, their organizational structure is modernized and the most efficient service to citizens is ensured, with transparent and good administration procedures".
At the level of the Provinces, Mr. Ioannou said that "the establishment of the Provincial Self-Government Organizations and the transfer to them of the responsibility of licensing the development are the biggest bets for the Ministry of the Interior. Until yesterday, in three different Organizations, in the Department of Urban Planning and Housing, in the Municipalities and the District Administrations, ten urban planning and 36 building authorities were operating and in fact in several cases with documented staffing problems. This fact, combined with the different procedures followed by each Authority, resulted in significant problems being observed and, by extension, long delays in the issuance of permits."
In addition, Mr. Ioannou noted that "as of today, a total of 326 people who were employed until now in the licensing sectors of the District Offices of the Department of Urban Planning and Housing, Municipalities and District Administrations, as well as the approximately 70 Fixed-Term Employees, who were hired and they were trained to strengthen the existing staff, they are co-located and serve the citizens in the new Organizations. We believe that bringing together the increased staff from the three different bodies and integrating the planning and building permit processes under one Agency will have improved results in the medium term after the first transition period, since the staff will work collectively, streamlining the examination processing process of applications".
In addition, as he said, "in order to upgrade the procedures and make the licensing system more flexible and efficient, since last October we have implemented a package of 22 measures aimed at simplifying and speeding up the examination and licensing procedures. I would like to assure the citizens who have already submitted applications under the previous regime, that they have been transferred and will be handled by the competent officers". At the same time, he added that "today also marks the digital transition of the submission and examination of all planning and building permits. The "IPPODAMOS" System was reactivated today, in full development, and through it urban planning and building applications will be submitted for all types of developments, regardless of the Authority that will examine them."
The Minister of the Interior also referred to the difficulties, especially in the first months of the implementation of the reform, until the citizens, the State, the Municipalities and the EOAs become familiar with the new procedures and the staff assimilate the updated procedures and learn to function as a single team in the new work environment, as he noted.
However, as he said, "all the agencies involved are fully committed to responding immediately, so that we can overcome any difficulties, without affecting the smooth operation of the new scheme". And he added that, "as a Government, we have identified some weaknesses that we consider to be in need of re-evaluation and I know that a corresponding evaluation has also been made by the parliamentary parties".
At the same time, Mr. Ioannou expressed the intention to start from September a cycle of consultations with the political parties, with the aim, as he noted, to put on the carpet the points that need to be revised and to jointly find those solutions that will substantially improve the new framework of local self-government and will legislate some identified gaps.
Additionally, Konstantinos Ioannou stated that, "the President of the Republic is planning a tour of all the Provinces, as part of the continuous effort to contact the Local Authorities and the citizens. For us there are no small and large Communities, there are no citizens of two categories and regions of different speeds. We work for the development, prosperity and progress of all Cypriots. In the context of this tour, we will assess every need that arises, so that the necessary interventions can be made where and where needed, in order for the new self-governing model to be functional, efficient and effective."
"A reform of this magnitude, which affects the whole society, cannot but have a dynamic and progressive character", said the Minister to underline that, "in order to have the desired development, all of us who are involved in this project must listen to the needs of the citizens and to ensure that the Local Authorities have at their disposal all the tools that will allow them to constantly upgrade and be next to the citizens, who are the final recipients of this radical change". And he added, "we will continue to do this with the sole aim of strengthening the framework, so that it becomes as beneficial as possible for our fellow citizens".