02.08.2022
Recently, with two serious cases of balconies collapsing in Paphos injuring civilians, the issue of procedures and responsibilities for the maintenance and control of dangerous buildings in cities has returned to the news.
Considering that relevant reports are also being prepared for Nicosia, where a significant number of buildings needing attention have also been identified, we consider it our duty to inform about the actions taken by the Municipality of Nicosia, as well as the obstacles and problems that it faces in managing . with situation.
We must make it clear from the outset that each owner is solely responsible for maintaining their building and avoiding a hazardous situation. When he is notified that his building is dangerous, he has a specific deadline to act in order for the danger to be eliminated. Today, if the owner refuses to carry out maintenance to remove the hazard, the law gives local authorities the right to intervene to eliminate the hazard and bring charges against the owner.
This leads to the fact that the municipality and, accordingly, the taxpayers bear the burden of the cost of maintaining private property. In practice, this means that while the benefits of owning property remain private, the costs become collective, depriving local governments of resources that could be used for the benefit of the city and all citizens.
Having identified weaknesses in the existing system, the Nicosia Municipality has repeatedly made proposals and sent a number of letters to the Ministry of the Interior and all parliamentary parties, emphasizing the need for immediate action and initiatives to resolve the situation.
Legislation should be amended to oblige every owner to keep their building in good repair immediately, for a considerable amount of time and in an efficient manner.
The Law on Urban Planning and Territorial Planning offers an extremely powerful tool. Imposition of an administrative fine. This is a practice that has been used by the municipality in the past and is still in use today. However, its effective functioning requires prompt consideration of possible objections or appeals by the Ministry of the Interior. Unfortunately, today, as we have already pointed out earlier, the process of imposing administrative fines is extremely time-consuming, to the point of becoming inefficient and non-functional.
Our firm position is that short-term and strong application of the legislation will bring significant results and change the image of our cities for the better in terms of illegal property leasing, illegal use of cities and dangerous buildings.
In order to be able to act effectively, the municipality proposed to expedite the processing of appeals by the Ministry of the Interior by setting a maximum response time of three months. Also, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, in cooperation with the Ministry of Justice, is invited to take all necessary actions to assist local authorities in implementing the Law and restoring the rule of law, which is and remains our common goal.
In addition, during the recent process of modernizing the legal framework of local self-government, in our letters to all parliamentary parties, the relevant ministries and the Union of Municipalities, we proposed the following amendments to the legislation:
Regular inspection of buildings by ETEK members to issue a certificate of suitability. Concession to the local government of the power to issue court orders, for insufficient maintenance, for danger, and for problematic / unhealthy living conditions. Removal of lease from the listed objects. Lease documents must be accompanied by a certificate of fitness for rent.
Establishment of regulations for the activities of the administrative committees of buildings that are jointly owned, with effective conditions for their management and maintenance. Unfortunately, in the process of adopting amendments to the draft law on local self-government, despite the fact that our proposal for regular inspection of buildings and the issuance of a certificate of fitness was put to a vote on the initiative of D.P.A. all other parties voted against it.
We consider it extremely important to adopt the above changes to the existing legal framework as soon as possible in order to immediately increase the functionality and efficiency of local governments, always with the aim of ensuring the safety of citizens/citizens, to better serve their needs and improve the quality of life for all.
