As the debate over local government reform deepens, so will the efforts of local communities and councils to meet their demands. The day before yesterday, during the meeting of the Committee on Home Affairs, we saw the first attempts to bear fruit. We are referring to the issue of the Municipality of Aradippou, whose autonomy is now on the table in the form of an amendment submitted by the Democratic Alarm and which was justified by its executives as an amendment to the amendment, if and when the Interior Committee decides to lead to plenary session of Parliament on its proposal for the creation of 20 municipalities. As we wrote yesterday, in case the amendment is passed by the parties, then the municipalities that will emerge will be 21. That is why DISY suggested at the same time the abolition of the Municipality of Dromolaxia – Meneou, which is integrated in the Municipality of Larnaca, together with Livadia. However, the effort made by the Democratic Alarm is that the municipalities remain at 17, as provided by government bills. Therefore, based on what we have learned, in the remaining two sessions of the committee it should be considered almost certain that other additional amendments will emerge regarding the issue of municipal autonomy, and not only, since political circles take it for granted that as long as At the end of the discussion of the bills, the backstage consultations and agreements will intensify.
Initiative Committee
At the same time, the Initiative Committee for the Preservation of the Municipality of Aradippou, in a letter to the Committee of the Interior, emphasizes that the possibility of taking legal measures has already begun to ensure the preservation of the municipality. It is a fact that the Municipality of Aradippou has been moving forward for quite some time with intense processes in order to achieve the goal, which is none other than its stay as an autonomous municipality after the reform. One of these efforts concerns the letter received on January 10 by the Interior Committee from the initiative group for the preservation of the Municipality of Aradippou. As the letter states, “reflecting the general feeling and the views of the vast majority of the inhabitants of Aradippou, we are convinced that it is necessary to maintain our municipality with the adoption by the majority of Parliament of the alternative proposal for Larnaca, as provided in the law. . At the same time, they do not even rule out holding a referendum among the residents of Aradippou to express freely and democratically their own verdict regarding the future of the municipality, as was the case with its establishment, while exploring the possibility of taking legal action, so to ensure the preservation of the municipality.
Not in an unorthodox design
The untested scenario proposed, the letter continues, for the merger of the Municipalities of Larnaca, Aradippou, Livadia and the community of Oroklini, will lead to a huge and slow-moving organization, bringing the opposite of the desired results, in terms of serving the citizens and resources. With this scenario, 83% of the mayor's population of the province is merged into a single municipality and the remaining 17% is distributed to three other municipalities “. At the same time, the letter states, it can not be justified that the Municipality of Aradippou, with a vital land of 56 km2, 25,000 population, 8,000 premises, 3 industrial and 2 craft areas, 4 livestock areas, large agricultural crops and uses, without financial problems and with full technocratic service, is lost. In addition, according to the Initiative Committee, with the support of the mayor and all municipal groups of parties and other organized groups of Aradippou and all residents, the implementation of an unorthodox reform plan, which will serve partisan and other expediencies, which have nothing to do with the well-meaning interests of the municipalities and communities proposed for merger.
