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A second round of regional meetings with the Communities of all the Districts was launched today by Interior Minister Constantinos Ioannou, following meetings held last autumn. Mr. Ioannou held meetings with the communities of the Paphos District today and will hold meetings with the Local Authorities of the other Districts in the coming days.
After recording the problems and needs of the communities last autumn, the purpose of the new cycle of contacts is to assess the progress made in resolving the issues of concern to the local communities. At the same time, the meetings will examine the state of preparation of the Communities in view of the implementation of the Local Government Reform.
Coming to the Mesogei Community Council, Mr Ioannou said that we are in the final stretch for the start of the great project of Local Government Reform. As the Minister explained, from 1 July, the 30 Service Delivery Clusters will put the way communities operate on a new footing, with upgraded services for citizens. The proper staffing of the Clusters, with qualified personnel, will facilitate the Community Councils in the effective implementation of their work and will streamline the procedures followed.
In this context, the Minister of Interior continued, "it has recently been decided to allocate an additional state grant to the Clusters amounting to €3 million.
He added that model budgets have been made and it is now up to the Provincial Authorities and the Municipalities to go back to their budgets and make savings and economies of scale where and when necessary so that no additional costs are incurred.
He added that it is now up to the Provincial Authorities and the Municipalities to go back to their budgets and make savings and economies of scale where and when necessary so that no additional costs are incurred. "The objective of the reform, as we have said many times, is through consolidation to generate economies of scale. The costs may be the same, but the services will be better and of higher quality. These economies of scale must be created in practice."
Asked how the process for the May 9 elections is progressing and asked if any arrangements have been made, given that there will be many ballots and voters will need more time to exercise their right to vote, the Interior Minister said. Ioannou said that Election Day "will definitely be a challenge for the Ministry of Home Affairs because this is the first time that two different elections are being held on such a large scale on one day, with one of the two being for Local Government with new seats. We are working hard in the Ministry of Interior and I am sure there will not be any problems on Election Sunday." He added that processes are continuing as normal, staffing is being done for election day and public information is progressing. "You understand that no matter how many paper exercises are done, it is not the same thing as what will happen on Election Day. I have confidence in the officials of the Ministry of Home Affairs and I am confident that there will not be any problems on that day. It is a challenge and whatever arises we will face it," the Interior Minister stressed.
(MQI)
Contents of this article including associated images are belongs PIO
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