It is with great pleasure that I am present at the signing ceremony of the Lease Agreement of the Old Larnaca Hospital between the Ministry of Interior and the Municipality of Larnaca.
With the signing of the agreements today, two pieces of land and the building of the old Larnaca Hospital, which belong to the Republic of Cyprus, are leased to the Municipality of Larnaca.
The building of the old Hospital, which has been declared a listed building, was erected before 1934 and was donated by the Pierides family for the benefit of the citizens of the city and district of Larnaca. It was used as the main hospital of Larnaca until the 1980s, when the Larnaca General Hospital was built and put into operation.
In recent years, the old hospital housed the Dental Services, Mental Health Services and the Maternity and Child Protection Centre, which were transferred to the new wing of the Larnaca General Hospital.
Today, ladies and gentlemen, with the signing of this Agreement, an old and long-standing request of the Municipality of Larnaca for the expansion of its building infrastructure, which was aimed at offering accessible points of service and convenience to the citizens, within a broader framework of effort to provide higher quality services, becomes a reality.
This, dear ones, was and continues to be the aim of the Government: to stand by any effort of autonomy, empowerment and strengthening of Local Authorities so that they can respond to the real, great and daily needs of the citizen.
With the passing of the Bills for the reform of Local Authorities, we are demonstrating in practice that we, as the Ministry of Interior, are moving decisively in all those actions to make this historic reform a reality.
Within the tight timeframes that we now have at our disposal, we must structure Local Authorities that are administratively and financially autonomous, capable of providing improved services to the citizen, but at the same time adapted to the new and modern needs that arise in the ever-changing social environment.
With today's transfer of these buildings to the Municipality of Larnaca, we are launching a first effort to adapt to the new data of the Local Government reform, on the basis of which the new entity of the Municipality of Larnaca will be called upon to serve 30% more citizens.
From 2024, the Municipality of Larnaca will be merged with the Municipality of Livadia, as well as the community of Voroklini - which will be renamed as municipal districts - and will gain additional capabilities, flexibility, increased responsibilities, while its sustainability will be enhanced. At the same time, control and transparency are strengthened, while citizens become stakeholders in the local community. During this period, many coordinated and targeted actions will have to be taken in order to reach the final target by 2024.
The Ministry of Interior has already designed the roadmap for the next day and already in the next few days local leaders, as well as stakeholders and officials will be invited to the first coordination meeting to start the process of implementing this great challenge. Our goal is a smooth and timely transition to the new framework for the operation of the Local Authorities.
We are confident that the utilization of this listed public building will "prosper" in two ways, both for the restoration, protection and preservation of our architectural heritage, and for the service of the citizens of Larnaca.
So, in conclusion, I would like to congratulate both the friendly Mayor of Larnaca, Andreas Vyra, and the City Council of the city, for the effort to improve and upgrade the city of Zenon, as well as all state officials, starting with the Larnaca District Administration for their services to the citizens.
Kaloriziko.
(EFYs/EC/SX)
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Views & opinions expressed are those of the author and/or PIO
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