Local authorities should play a leading role in the development of their communities and the government will support this effort, President Nikos Christodoulides said on Saturday.

He was speaking at a Cyprus Union of Municipalities conference where participants had the opportunity to submit views and suggestions on the second year of the transition period before local elections in June next year.

Representatives of communities of Greece attended the event, with the president saying the country’s example had been and continues to be “an object of study” for Cyprus.

In a modern state with a human-centered character, Christodoulides said, the role of local government becomes even stronger and more important.

“Local authorities should play a leading role in determining the conditions for the development of local communities,” he said.

The government recognises this crucial role, and “stands as a helper…supporting the numerous efforts made by all of your, often under adverse conditions, for the social, economic and cultural development of our communities”.

“The ultimate goal of the whole effort is to strengthen the capacity of local authorities to provide better quality services to their residents,” he noted.

The president identified the concept of community with the countryside, which he said is “a vital cell of geographical, cultural and social balance”.

Thus, the improvement of the standard of living of rural residents is a “key priority”, he said, citing the population decline in those communities recorded in recent years.

To this end, the government has proceeded with numerous urban planning and development projects, but also in various grants for either cultural and agrotourism projects or the preservation of traditional buildings and restoration of monuments.

Among them are state funding for housing in rural areas, and the creation of infrastructure.

The president then compared this reform with the introduction of the general health scheme, which was the biggest social reform of the country, saying it is crucial to “dare” to proceed with change and then the institution will be under continuous evaluation.

A meeting will also be held with the community leaders of occupied villages in the context of the local government reform.

“I believe that the solutions to many of the problems that the Cypriot people are facing today, can be found through upgrading, through more action on our part towards our communities,” the president added.

At the same conference, Interior Minister Constantinos Ioannou also referred to supporting rural and mountainous areas and helping resolve some of the issues residents face to improve their quality of life.

“To achieve the goal of steady rural development and improvement of the living standards of our rural population, we need a strong and modernised local government, capable of responding to the modern needs of citizens, as well as to the structures of a modern state,” the minister noted.

He said organisational charts for the community clusters have already been drawn up, but there is still the possibility of changing the distribution of state subsidies to ensure financial sustainability.

The interior ministry, he said, has been rolling out the programme to allocate budget savings for additional projects in the countryside to revitalise the mountain communities.

“To create the conditions to attract residents to the countryside and address homelessness, we are proceeding with the re-evaluation of existing housing plans for the development of rural, mountainous and disadvantaged communities,” he said.

An effort has also been launched to formulate and activate an integrated strategy for affordable housing.