Delays mar first month of local authority reform

The first month of operations for Limassol and Larnaca’s district-level organisations have been hit with delays, financial issues and water-supply issues, Interior Minister Constantinos Ioannou heard on Monday.

In meetings aimed to follow-up the local authority reform, Ioannou said he had visited both Limassol and Larnaca and briefed over the implementation on water supply, sewage, and permits.

“As expected, there are problems.”

Ioannou conceded the number of permits approved was low, which he said was partially to be blamed on the fact that parliament granted a two-week period for the transition.

“We had asked for three,” he stipulated.

Some municipalities in Limassol for instance, still had paper records rather than digital files and as such, more time was needed.

Asked in which sector most problems appear, the minister specified it was in water supply and sewage.

A serious issue however lies in the fact that 60 per cent of funding has been cut off from the district level organisations, Ioannou said.

“There are no provisions for where this amount is going to be covered from, and this creates a huge problem.”

Without a solution the government will have to step in which defeats the idea that they should be autonomous, he said.