District self-government organisations have called on the Government to ensure that any transfer of critical responsibilities, including the management of dangerous buildings, is matched with the necessary financial resources and legal powers.
In a joint press release, the organisations said the latest incident in Larnaca, involving the forced evacuation of dangerous apartment blocks, highlighted a serious housing and social problem. They said they supported the requests submitted to the Government by the Union of Municipalities for a comprehensive response.
As the Union of Municipalities has already pointed out, municipalities and district self-government organisations do not have the necessary tools, financial resources or infrastructure to provide temporary or permanent housing for large numbers of affected residents. The organisations also stressed that such housing provision does not fall within their responsibilities.
They said they had long warned that when powers are transferred, especially critical powers such as the management of dangerous buildings, they must be accompanied by the necessary funding, compensatory fees or revenues, and legal tools, as provided for in the Municipalities Law and the European Charter of Local Self-Government. The implementation of the law, they added, is the responsibility of the Government of the day and the competent ministries.
Such support, they said, would allow the relevant authorities to intervene in a timely and effective manner where needed. Although the organisations have received temporary financial support, they stressed that the issue of securing a permanent source of compensatory funding for dangerous building services remains unresolved. The current process, they said, is highly bureaucratic and does not guarantee that all costs will be covered.
The issue was discussed during an extensive teleconference involving the presidents, directors general and licensing department directors of all district self-government organisations. Apart from dangerous buildings, the meeting also examined the next steps for handling recent problems linked to the issuing of fast-track licensing orders.
The organisations reiterated that both they, the Union of Municipalities and the Cyprus Scientific and Technical Chamber consider it wrong for dangerous buildings to be included under licensing services. They said these are two separate services and should be treated as such, with different compensatory fees and revenue streams. The fact that both services are covered by the same legislation, they added, does not mean they are the same service.
Source: CNA
