A good illustration of how the local authorities waste the taxpayer’s money was given in a letter sent to Limassol municipality by the Audit Service, which identified a long list of irregularities for the period 2021 to June 2024, when the new regime was introduced. According to a report in Politis, the irregularities and dubious decisions were included in a 16-page letter sent by the Audit Service that has asked for a response from the municipality by December 8.

The Limassol municipal council put 16 employees on ‘personal scales.’  Twelve of these were in the category of ‘hourly staff’ and therefore not entitled to move up the pay scales; other employees were put on pay scales that contravene the rules of the broader public sector and despite a legal opinion telling the municipality it could not take such decisions. People hired as traffic wardens were moved permanently to other services in violation of the rules, by decision of the mayor or the municipal council.

The squandering of public funds did not end there, according to the Audit Service. Since 2017, the overtime work has increased by 176 per cent, from €492,000 to €1,359,000. Overtime pay was “approved in advance for employees and labourers, without any checks on their coming and going,” There was also an increase in the allowances paid to staff by 44 per cent, rising from €112,000 to €162,000 in 2023; these were in contraventions of the legal framework. The clocking in and out system was not used by higher-ranked employees, yet a senior official at the technical services, who never used the system, was paid €100,000 in overtime.

Are these decisions a result of corruption, incompetence or total disregard for the taxpayer’s money? We suspect a combination of all. Most municipal councils, said Politis, backed the earlier decisions in its last meeting and argued that these were necessary because the freeze on appointment had cause serious problems in the operation of municipal services. So overtime was paid to whomever claimed it, without any checks, because there was a freeze on appointments? And staff did not bother to clock in and out of work because of this freeze?

None of the Audit Service’s observations should come as a surprise. This is how the public sector operates and local government is even more lax in the management of staff, the overwhelming majority of who are employed because of their links with political parties. It explains why the parties on the municipal council not only defended these irregularities but justified them. The councilors, like the rest of the politicians, have no regard for how the taxpayer’s money is spent and are happy to waste it, as the central government will eventually pick up the bill.

What is even more worrying is that there is nothing we can do about the irresponsible wastefulness of municipal councils. How will this profligacy and mismanagement ever be stopped, when there is legal way of bringing a municipal council to account?