Nicosia District Governor Constantinos Yiorkadjis on Friday called on outgoing Edek leader and House interior committee member Marinos Sizopoulos to give his support to increase both the financial and administrative independence of Cyprus’ district governments.

Speaking after a meeting between the pair, Yiorkadjis said he hopes Sizopoulos will give “the necessary support, both in the House interior committee and in the plenary sessions to adopt the changes to legislation which we consider necessary” to this end.

In return, Sizopoulos said there are “systematic discussions in the House interior committee on issues concerning local government”.

“Given that local government is the authority which is closest to the public, it is extremely important that it be able to respond, with the greatest possible efficiency, to the tasks which it has been assigned,” he added.

He said that for this reason, in the remaining time before the next parliamentary elections next year, “it is very important [for local authorities] to transfer the experience they have acquired regarding the issues of financial management and their view on their financial viability and their structure”.

“This is very important, because they have been entrusted with daunting responsibilities,” he added.

The interior ministry most recently proposed a list of proposed amendments to the laws concerning local government last month, with the stated aim of “improving the legislative framework for the benefit of local government”.

The first amendment foresees that the management of rainwater in villages will be the exclusive responsibility of village councils, while he also proposed an “acceleration of the expropriation process for the purpose of expediting the registration process of rural roads”.

Additionally, he proposed that the approval of district government’s budgets be the responsibility of cabinet and not of parliament, and the “incorporation” of the €12 million local authorities lost in planning permission revenues into the €117m handed to local authorities by the central government in grants.

The municipalities stopped receiving revenue from planning permission applications when the competency was handed over to district governments last year.

Interior ministry spokeswoman Margarita Kyriakou told the Cyprus Mail at the time that this extra €12m will not simply be added to the existing €117m state grant but will be offered to municipalities based on planned infrastructure upgrades which would otherwise have been financed with revenue made from planning permission applications.

Ioannou also proposed the creation of an annual €15m state grant to municipalities for the maintenance of “roads of primary importance”, and the “unfreezing” of job positions in municipalities and village clusters.

Additionally, he informed the House interior committee of a cabinet decision to finance maintenance and replacement projects in the water supply network to the tune of €8m, with the aim of reducing water waste.