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- Ελληνικά
Meeting of Interior Minister Konstantinos Ioannou with the elected Presidents of the Provincial Local Authorities
Like any major reform, the reform of the Local Authorities is expected to have difficulties at the beginning, said Interior Minister Mr. Konstantinos Ioannou, speaking after a meeting with the elected Presidents of the Provincial Self-Government Organizations (POAs). Ioannou conveyed the Ministry's readiness to help find solutions and improve any weaknesses that may arise during the practical implementation of a reform of this magnitude.
At today's meeting, the level of readiness of each Agency was assessed and ways were examined to ensure the timely completion of outstanding issues.
In his remarks, the Interior Minister stressed that, following the June 9 elections, the Ministry of Interior has intensified activities in view of the start of the major reform of local government. "As I have stated many times, the biggest gamble of this radical change is the successful transfer of development permitting, which is now in 10 different planning authorities and 36 building authorities from three different agencies, the Department of Planning and Zoning, the Provincial Administrations and the Municipalities, to the five Provincial Local Government Agencies that will be operational for the first time on July 1, is expected in the long run to have significant savings in both speed and cost in the issuance of permits," he said These actions, he continued, are divided into two pillars. More specifically, "we have recognized that the delays in issuing planning and building permits to date are due to two important factors: the first is understaffing and the second is licensing procedures."
Ioannou explained that, with regard to the issue of understaffing, "we focused on properly staffing the licensing sector by transferring almost all of the existing staff involved in licensing from the Department of Planning and Zoning, Municipalities and Provincial Administrations and hiring 85 additional officers, thus increasing by 30% the total number of staff involved in licensing. At the same time, we have also proceeded with the training and qualification of these staff to enable them to perform their duties efficiently."
With regard to the second pillar, the Minister continued, "we have announced since last October a radical change in procedures, in simplifying procedures for issuing planning and building permits with the implementation of 22 measures. So far, 17 measures have been implemented and in the coming weeks the implementation of the other measures aimed at speeding up the examination and issuance of permits will be completed. We paid particular attention, among other things, to the definition of correct and uniform procedures and, in cooperation with the ETEK, we prepared a manual that will be followed by all Organizations - because until now the different Authorities followed different procedures."
With regard to the degree of implementation of the processes ahead of July 1, the Interior Minister noted that "it is noted that there are different challenges in each Province and different degrees of implementation of the actions that need to be taken. We still have two weeks ahead of us, so there are several things to be done, such as moving staff, transferring files and others, so that they can function properly from July 1."
"I do not want to create excessive expectations and I want to be honest with the citizens. As we have seen in every major reform, such as the GESY, we must expect that there will be difficulties in the first period until everyone, the State, local government authorities and citizens, adapt to the new data and the new way of functioning. However, we are ready to find solutions, improve weaknesses and I am confident that the first Presidents of the Provincial Organizations are capable and will lead the effort for the successful start of the reform with dedication," Ioannou said.
Next, asked if based on the preparation done so far in the EAOs they would be able to respond with speed in terms of processing applications given the backlog of pending applications, Mr. Ioannou clarified that the pending applications would be there whether we proceed with the reform or not. "Right now there are 10,000 applications in the planning authorities and 25,000 in the municipalities. If the reform did not go ahead, these 35,000 would still exist. They will be transferred to the new agencies with 30% more staff, simplified procedures and concentrated in these five agencies. But, as I said in my introduction, I do not want to create excessive expectations, because you realise that the staff from all these authorities, with different cultures, will take some time to get up to speed. But I am confident that merging and consolidating under one Agency instead of thirty-five ten for thirty-six with additional staff simplified procedures will process much faster, much more applications, and it will not take in some depth of time, the time it takes now to process planning and building permits. That is a goal we want with the reform."
Asked about the degree of readiness of each EDA, the Interior Minister said that some are at a more advanced stage and some that have had different challenges are further behind. For example, he explained, there was no water supply in Paphos Province or Famagusta Province, while there were Water Supply Councils in the other Provinces. "This means that the starting point they started from is different and so at this point we may be at a different level of implementation," he noted, saying that at the meeting all the EDA Chairmen and project managers expressed their readiness and willingness to work over the next two weeks to ensure the smooth start of the operation of the agencies. "I am confident that we will start on the right foot. There may be some problems at the beginning, as in any reform - and I can tell you, I have implemented the YESY - there will be some difficulties at the beginning. We have to give a time credit and I am sure that over the weeks we will see the big changes, at least in terms of certainly licensing, but also the rest, whether it is from sanitation and water supply."
Finally, asked if there are any pending legislation, Mr. Ioannou said that they have been completed today and noted that if there are problems, those cuts and improvements that are needed will be made in collaboration with the House of Representatives in order to improve local government reform.
(MKY)
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