AMMAN — On behalf of all mayors of
Irbid Governorate,
Mayor of Irbid Dr Nabil Al-Kofhi on Wednesday called for the
cancellation of municipal debts to allow municipalities to shift towards
development work. The total municipal indebtedness, he said, does not exceed
JD400 million.
اضافة اعلان
Kofhi was speaking during a meeting between
the Senate Administrative Committee and the mayors of
Irbid Governorate, which
took place in the Greater Irbid Municipality on Wednesday. During the meeting,
the mayors briefed the committee on key challenges in advancing municipal
performance, strengthening development, and elevating services.
Several legislations related to municipal
work restrict municipalities in achieving their development visions by centralizing
and bureaucratizing decision-making, Kohfi said.
Irbid Municipality's development projects
such as the central market, the solar cell farm, the light rail, and the
business park are still facing obstacles from various central authorities,
which are causing a slowdown in development and investment activity, he noted.
Senate committee field visitsThe head of the Senate committee, Dr Khaled
Al-Bakkar, said that the committee is aware of the size of the obstacles that
hinder the work of the Kingdom’s municipalities. It has started a series of
field visits with the meeting with Irbid mayors and will continue in the rest
of the governorates, to understand the reality within Jordan’s municipalities
and the mechanisms and tools for addressing obstacles and problems they face,
within the framework of the Royal vision to modernize and develop the public
sector.
Development cannot succeed without the support of municipalities and local councils, as they are the most capable of defining development priorities and needs based on the comparative advantages of each region.
Bakkar confirmed that, following these
field visits, the committee will submit recommendations to the government and
various decision-making entities with the aim of deciding on approaches to
overcome these challenges — especially those related to bureaucracy, delays in
the bidding process, and central approvals in a way that gives municipalities
enhanced powers in managing their affairs.
The
municipality of Irbid and the municipalities of the north in general have borne “great burdens to their
infrastructure” as a result of the Syrian refugee crisis. This fact
necessitates that the government support them and identify appropriate
solutions to empower them, restore their usual roles in service and
development, and enhance their partnership with the private sector, he said.
Development cannot succeed without the
support of municipalities and local councils, as they are the most capable of
defining development priorities and needs based on the comparative advantages
of each region, he said.
‘Impressive steps’ in local developmentThe governor of Irbid, Radwan Al-Atoum,
said that
Irbid municipality and the governorate’s other municipalities have
begun to take “impressive steps towards improving their services and enhancing
their developmental role”, establishing programs and plans to overcome local
infrastructure problems and to create effective traffic solutions in light of
population density and congestion. He also expressed appreciation for the
attention given by the government to municipalities on more than one level.
Calling for more regulatory autonomyThe head of the Irbid Governorate Council,
Khaldoun Bani Hani, confirmed that local councils have made achievements on the
ground, but “they still require that laws and regulations related to their
budgets be improved” to allow them to manage their projects.
The completion rate of Irbid Governorate
Council projects last year stood at 68 percent and the expenditure rate reached
23 percent, leaving the council unable to spend on its unfinished projects, he
said.
The council will distribute its budget
allocations for next year among on sectors instead of regions to increase the
possibility of establishing sectoral development projects, Bani Hani added.
Municipal recommendationsThe members of the Senate Administrative
Committee expressed their understanding of the challenges and problems faced by
the municipalities, stressing that they are working hard to find appropriate
solutions, and are in the process of collecting the information to come up with
practical recommendations.
The demands of the mayors who attended the
meeting included the granting municipalities broader powers that enhance their
financial and administrative independence, writing off their debts, giving them
their full share of fuel subsidies, expanding the construction of waste dumps
and conversion stations to reduce costs and burdens, supporting their
transition to solar energy, and supporting them in attracting experts and
specialists for development and investment.
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