Khaberni - Initially, I would like to extend my sincere thanks to His Excellency the Minister of Local Administration, Walid Al-Masri, for the significant efforts since his assumption of the ministry, where he has issued strict instructions aimed at the optimal exploitation of municipal resources and improving the reality of services to citizens, and controlling public spending through the amendment of the instructions for preparing the general budget project for all municipalities and services councils, in addition to solving the elected councils and replacing them with appointed committees and the selection of presidents and members of temporary committees based on efficiency, experience, and high professionalism to make the committees a source of enhanced integrity, transparency, and accountability, and they were and still are highly ready in their effective role in rationalizing administrative and financial expenses and setting an action plan to provide services to citizens, therefore, it is worth noting that the committees stage is more effective and organizational than the elected councils stage.
From this standpoint, I support the decision to appoint mayors of all categories, first, second, and third, and the election of all their members, and setting a minimum academic degree of a bachelor's for candidates for mayors where the appointed committee is subjected to monthly evaluation and the current situation is sent to His Excellency the Minister of Local Administration while the elected councils work to satisfy their popular bases with the services provided and appointments, and do not rely on the regulations and instructions in force, which will negatively reflect on the municipal budget.
Considering the latest decision issued by the Ministry of Local Administration by placing a financial plan to extinguish the debts of the municipalities to the Cities and Villages Development Bank, where it extinguished 170 million dinars of loan interest on the municipalities for the benefit of the Cities and Villages Development Bank and reduced the interest rate on loans from 7.5% to 2%, this matter will reflect positively on the financial reality of the municipalities by providing sufficient liquidity to cover the obligations incurred by them and expand the scope of services provided, noting that these debts have doubled due to the coronavirus pandemic which led to the deterioration of the financial situations at the Cities and Villages Development Bank and the scarcity of liquidity available to it due to the decrease in revenues coming to it.
