Villages protest against closure of municipalities

YENİBOĞAZİÇİ Municipality, which is situated in the Gazimağusa district, held a public information meeting last week in order to express its opposition to the planned reduction in the number of municipalities in the TRNC.

The meeting was also attended by other local mayors, including Geçitkale’s Hasan Öztaş and Mehmetçik’s Cemil Sarıçizmeli, as well as representatives of other regional associations and clubs, and citizens who also oppose the planned changes.

Yeniboğaziçi Mayor Mustafa Zurnacılar made a speech at the event, stating that it is “impossible” for the central government to shut down the municipalities, and that such a decision should be in the hands of the Municipal Councils, and only if a referendum held in the area showed that there is a desire to close the municipality.

Noting that Yeniboğaziçi Municipality consists of eight villages and is one of the most important areas in the country in terms of agricultural production and tourism, Mr Zurnacılar said that there was first a council in Yeniboğaziçi in 1976, that the municipality was established in 1980. He indicated that although the municipality provides services to 20,000 people with a budget of 50 million TL, it receives funding from the government based on a population of just 6,000.

Mr Zurnacılar pointed out that despite facing many difficulties in the process, including objections from South Cyprus, Yeniboğaziçi Municipality was the first municipality in the TRNC to win the international Cittaslow title and that the country’s flag was waved in 34 countries thanks to this.

Later in his speech Mr Zurnacılar said that “if the municipalities are no longer local ... there will no longer be ‘local government’, and this will cause disruptions in services”. As an example, he stated that there is “almost no beach left for the people to use in Girne” where many beaches are owned by private hotels, and pointed out the contrast with his own municipality where “today, the 8.5 kilometre sea coast belongs to the people.”

‘SOLID FINANCIAL STANDING’

Mr Zurnacılar claimed towards the end of his speech that Yeniboğaziçi Municipality has a “solid financial standing”, and reaffirmed his belief that municipalities should only close if the people in those municipalities wish it so.

With potential referenda looming over the issue, he warned that the people would not vote for a reduction in municipalities if the government’s thinking does not “overlap” with that of the people.

Mehmetçik Mayor Cemil Sarıçizmeli also made a speech at the event, stating that Prime Minister Faiz Sucuoğlu’s justification for the referendum was that the municipalities were “financially unsustainable”, but that the referendum bill, which envisaged reducing the number of municipalities to just 12 or 13, was “empty” and that it is the central government that is currently borrowing money every month to pay salaries. Mr Sarıçizmeli added that services such as school and healthcare centres are operated fully by the municipalities and not the central government. He added that “someone should explain numerically why the municipalities should be closed .... If the municipalities can’t provide considerably better services than the state, we will close our own doors”.

In his speech, Geçitkale Mayor Hasan Öztaş stated that the right to close the municipality belongs to the people of the region, not the Parliament. Mr Öztaş also pointed out that during the pandemic, police and healthcare services were provided by the municipalities, not the state, making the point that even the smallest municipalities are capable of adequately and efficiently providing services.